Of Temptation and Redemption
by crooked-soul
Summary: Hermione thought she was happy in her marriage but cracks are forming and she's not sure who she wants to be there to pick up the pieces anymore, her husband or her newfound friend? D&Hr / R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters**

**Of Temptation and Redemption**

**Chapter 1**

It's hard to forget the day you came and set everything in motion, I had hardly even thought of you since the war, I wanted to try and forget that whole period of my life so it wouldn't poison the life I was trying to create anew and so you were left in the past. You must have had other plans however, you wanted to create a different future to the one I had envisioned, one of reconciliation, of redemption. I'm not sure whether I'm grateful for that or the opposite but wither way it happened.

It was a day in August when you came and turned my life upside down.

The air was humid and stifling and I worried vaguely about little Rose getting too hot as she ran around the garden. I sat on a small patio just by the back door, watching her as she found a source of fascination in the smallest of things, a tiny caterpillar that was diligently making its way across the ground, a flower that was so pretty she simply had to have it and struggled briefly with the plant to make it give up its bounty before smiling victoriously. My husband, Ron, was inside, in the shade, as he did some work for the ministry, he was lucky to have a job he enjoyed so much, I was slightly vague on the small details and mechanics of it but I knew it involved Quidditch, his passion.

I sipped quietly at my cool glass of pumpkin juice and contemplated how much trouble Rose could get in in the time it took to nip inside and get a book from the room I had reserved as my own personal library. It was then that I heard the faint sound of the doorbell jangling in the front hallway. The sound drifted through the open window by me and I wondered whether it was Harry and Ginny come for a visit with little James.

However the muffled snatches of conversation that reached me told me immediately that it wasn't them, frowning I decided to go and find out who it was, I glanced nervously at Rose, hoping she wouldn't get into too much mischief while I was gone, as it was I wasn't sure if I could even trust her for the five minutes I planned on staying inside for. She may have inherited my smarts but she had also inherited the Weasley gene for mischief.

I had realised before I rounded the corner that far from it being our friends it was in fact someone that Ron evidently didn't like at all, I could tell as much from the slight gruffness of his tone, the somewhat curt responses. Even more confused now, and equally burning with curiosity I turned the corner only to come face to face with the very last person I would expect, still standing awkwardly in the doorway, obviously in the middle of entreating Ron to listen to him.

"Malfoy" the name slipped between my lips in an involuntary gesture of surprise, it had been so long it sounded almost foreign, something half-remembered from another time, another life, "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Granger" he nodded his acknowledgement and with a glance at Ron, began his rehearsed speech again, "I've come to make amends of a sort, apologise" he winced as he said the word and I knew that it grated with him to ask for forgiveness from us whether he felt it the right thing to do or not, it was breaking a lifetime of habit. "For all that passed between us," he continued, "I..I didn't know any better, it was how I was brought up." I noticed that he frowned at the mention of his parents, as if he hadn't meant to bring them into the conversation at all, "Not that it's entirely my parents fault of course, I'm not blaming them, I'm just, I guess I'm just trying to explain that I'm not like that anymore, having to serve under Vol- him, scared me, a lot and some of the things I saw" he shuddered, "let's just say that I think it permanently knocked out any sadistic or cruel tendencies I might have had"

"That's all very well Malfoy but what exactly are you expecting from us?" Ron asked, I just stood there as the words sank in, I had heard from Harry about his hesitation when it came to killing Dumbledore and I had understood implicitly about the situation Malfoy had been in, in regards to the threat hanging over both his and his parents heads at the time, that was why he had been allowed to walk away comparatively free when all the other Death Eaters had been punished in the aftermath. He was pitied, though he was still shunned, the association too difficult for most of the wizarding world to bear.

I don't think I had ever fully understood what he must have gone through until I had seen that brief shudder, that reluctance to say the name Voldemort, even after all these years, only now that I did, I didn't feel pity, in fact pity was what I had felt beforehand, now it was almost..admiration. To have survived all that, then have to face the vigilant scrutiny of the wizarding world, the relative isolation that I was aware he had lived in if only because no-one I knew spoke to him, no-one mentioned him with anything but vague prejudice and suspicion.

All of this washed over me within a brief moment of clarity, which I was sure that he must have noticed as his piercing blue-grey eyes met with mine before shifting back to Ron.

"I am asking for a certain amount of forgiveness and understanding Weasley but I don't altogether mind if I don't get it, I'm apologising all the same, for the sake of my family, I don't want my child to have to live in the shadow of mine and my parents mistakes, this seemed the best way forward." Ron's expression became a little less harsh, he looked at me for a moment and we communicated silently that we seemed to think he was being genuine, on my part I was convinced of it, that was no longer an issue, something else had caught my attention.

"Child?" I asked

"Yes, a small boy, we named him Scorpius" I saw how his expression softened, he would probably make a better father than his own had been and I smiled at the thought almost unconsciously, he smiled back. I was actually momentarily shocked by it, it had been so long since I had seen Malfoy but even then I don't think I had ever seen him smile this naturally, this freely and sincerely. From what I remembered it was usually a self-aware smirk.

Almost as soon as it had come though, it was gone again and he turned back to Ron who still had a vague look of suspicion, "I spoke to Harry and Ginny yesterday and they asked me for a few days to mull it over, I can give you that too" Ron nodded his agreement to the proposal, "Harry knows how to contact me if you're ready to talk to me so I'll leave you two alone now." He started to make his way out of the door but paused and glanced back at us both, with me now by Ron's side, "I..I'm trying to atone for everything the best way I know how" he swallowed nervously, "I would like it if we were no longer enemies." We both looked at him, silently acknowledging his request before he turned again and briskly stepped out of the door, closing it behind him as he went.

Ron exhaled loudly and his hand automatically went to mine, softly entwining our fingers, "Well that was definitely something, I thought hell would freeze over before Malfoy ever admitted to doing something wrong." he looked at me, his eyes searching mine, "What do you think of it all?" I considered the question carefully before answering,

"I think that we should discuss this with Harry and Ginny, its essentially a group decision but in my opinion, I think he truly is repentant and I think that maybe we should give him a chance, something that I don't think he ever really had growing up the way he did." Ron smiled softly at me,

"Always so rational and compassionate" he stroked my cheek and kissed me softly before we were interrupted by a small shriek from the back garden, evidently I had left Rose on her own for far too long. Oddly enough though I was a little bit glad of the interruption, I needed some time on my own to really think over all that Draco had said.

The next day Harry and Ginny came over and we sat around the kitchen table whilst the kids played in the living room, only half watching the cartoon we had put on for them. We discussed what we should do for a long time before coming to the conclusion that Draco should be given another chance and we would organise a way to all meet up together with him and his new family.

**Let me know what you think :) ~xx~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Finally, I'm actually updating, can you believe it? I wonder if I'm ill lol, anyway next chapter, hope you like it, personally I'm not too sure about it but I can't think how to alter it so here it is anyway. **

Chapter 2

We had originally planned to meet up with Draco's family at our house but the others were still a little dubious about how far Draco could be trusted so in the end they changed their minds, deciding on somewhere a little more public, the park. So one week later there we all were, Ron and I with little Rose and Harry and Ginny with James and Albus, waiting for Draco adn his family to arrive.

Truth be told I felt quite nervous at the time, the others were too but for quite different reasons to the rest of them, Ron and Harry in particular still seemed to suspect that this was an elaborate plot of attack on Malfoy's part whereas I worried whether they would turn up at all, whether we would all be able to get on with each other.

I fidgeted slightly on the bench where Ginny and I sat watching the kids play on the climbing frame and slides, she was talking to me about something or other whilst I kept checking my watch, not really paying her much attention. The boys were stood to one side discussing Quidditch as always, you would think that there actually wasn't anything else to talk about the way that they went on about it constantly. In fact more than once I had asked if Ron ever got sick of Quidditch given that not only was his job centred around it but it also seemed to be the only topic of conversation between him and any other wizard and quite a few witches. He just looked at me as if I were mad and asked me how anyone could ever get sick of Quidditch. I had to bite my tongue at this point as I got sick of it frequently.

Draco and his family were only a couple of minutes late when they arrived, little Scorpius in between his mum and dad, clinging fearfully to their hands. I couldn't help but think how cute he was and notice that Draco seemed happier, more contented as he held onto his son even whilst he was quite obviously nervous about the day. I barely saw a trace of the mask he used to wear when we were at Hogwarts together, his mouth no longer held its customary sneer and the hard glint of malice was gone from his silver eyes.

I was the first to get up and welcome him with Ginny standing a short distance behind me, I extended my hand and felt oddly light and pleased when he immediately grasped it with a slightly relieved smile. It probably lasted a second longer than it should have done but in that moment we seemed to come to an understanding, I had accepted Draco for who he had become, he was being given the chance of redemption and it obviously meant a lot to him. He introduced me to his wife then, Adele Malfoy, she seemed pleasent enough with soft blue eyes and cropped brown hair, she was certainly very polite but she seemed a little distant to me, dignified in quite a Malfoy-ish way.

When I bent down to say hello to Scorpius though, noticing that his father gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, I was actually a little surprised at how warm and bubbly he was with the most adorably infectious grin. I knew he would get on perfectly with my own children, who had by now come over to stare curiously at the new arrivals. I stood to bring the children forward and introduce them and as I did I became acutely aware that while Ginny smiled at Draco and his family, if a little hesitantly and awkwardly, Ron and Harry had stayed quite far back eyeing the Malfoys warily and standing almost protectively close to the children.

I frowned but decided to ignore it for the time being, proceeding with the introductions and sending the children off to play together. They all accepted little Scorpius unquestioningly and I felt a burst of pride and love for them all, I had to practically restrain myself from picking up my Rose and hugging her with all my might for being such a wonderful child even if she was occasionally rather mischievous.

As it was I turned back to Draco, Ron and Harry appeared to have become slightly more relaxed around him but I knew that their old rivalries meant it would be a while before they could truly be comfortable with him, realistically the three would never be close but civility was a large step forward in my opinion. As for myself, I was warming to this new Draco immensely, I could see the love in his eyes when he looked at his son and how caring he was to his wife, he had proved us all wrong by being nothing like his father.

In fact once he had relaxed a bit we found ourselves conversing easily with each other at one of the park benches, I almost laughed out loud Ron asked him about quidditch and he admitted he hadn't been keeping up with it much, however he still enjoyed flying, occasionally taking his son along with him on the back of his Nimbus 3000.

By the end of the day I felt I could almost count Draco as one of my friends, which when I considered it was actually quite a startling development, Ginny too seemed to trust him much more and Harry and Ron had at least swallowed their differences. The past had been kept firmly as just that, the past, by unspoken agreement it simply wasn't mentioned and we even found ourselves setting up another play date for all of the children much to their delight, this time at Draco's house.

Our goodbyes were warm, or at least as warm as guys can be when it came to Ron and Harry, the latter of which shook Draco's hand, commenting that he was "glad he had changed a bit," I made no attempt to hide my grin at this and Draco smirked slightly on seeing it.

The children became something of an issue though as apparently they did not want to be separated now for any length of time and the announcement that we were going back to our respective homes and they would have to say goodbye to Scorpius was met with a chorus of protests, Rose seemed on the brink of a small tantrum whilst Harry and Ginny's kids were decidedly sulky. It took a great many repeated promises that they would see him again to appease them as it did with Scorpius it seems as Draco took him to the side slightly to talk to him, Adele looked on somewhat disapprovingly.

Once these reassurances were made they were allowed to make their own, much more lengthy goodbyes, Rose actually ran forward and hugged her new friend tightly, muttering "Bye bye Scorp" before resignedly making her way back to me and grabbing hold of my hand. I looked down fondly at her, "Ready?" she nodded, her eyes still fixed on Scorpius as Ron took her other hand. Harry and Ginny with James and Albus said their last goodbyes before apparating out, taking the children with them in side-along apparition. I looked up at Draco and his new family to say our last goodbyes too, I smiled warmly at them and in the split second before apparating Draco caught my eye and smiled so uncharacteristically genuinely it caught me off guard a bit, I heard him say thank you and then the dark squeezing sensation overtook me and we arrived back at our house.

"Well that wasn't too bad" Ron mused, I could just nod dumbly, I wasn't sure now if it was apparating, which I had always found more than a little uncomfortable, or Draco's sudden smile that had left my heart beating a little faster than usual.

**Wonderful people who press the purply/grey button and review will get cookies, hmm I wonder if we have any cookies in the house actually, I'm getting chocolate cravings XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**So heres the next chapter, sorry about the lack of updates, evil a-levels making me do work instead lol but oh well xD  
Nothing belongs to me as usual, not even the delectable Draco sobs**

Chapter 3

Over the next few weeks we met up with Draco and Scorpius more and more, his wife didn't often come, which I didn't understand at first but when I managed to work up the courage to ask him he was mostly vague, something to do with work was all that I caught though from what I remembered the woman didn't look like she had done a days work in her life. It made me uneasy when a thought occurred to me that she might not approve of Draco and Scorpius' newfound friendship with us. We did, after all, represent everything that undermined the world Draco had been a part of, had grown up in, it made me admire him all the more for coming forward, for making the first move in asking for forgiveness from the people he had once hated, people who had hated him.

We were slowly becoming real friends I thought, he still had a small way to go with Harry and Ron, though that was hardly surprising given how many harsh words and blows had been exchanged during our time at school together, but in Draco I was quickly finding someone I could really talk to. Sometimes we would sit for hours as our kids played in the back garden talking about the latest books on astronomy, newly discovered magical plants in the outbacks of Australia and the theory of dream inducing potions, I even found out that he had a fondness of some of my more favoured muggle writers, in particular the bard himself, Shakespeare. He amused me with tales of how he smuggled the books into his house when he was younger, hiding them in a magically concealed extra compartment of his bedside cabinet. Ginny would interject a comment now and then but often seemed content to sit back, her gaze flicking between Draco and I, to the kids, I knew she didn't share my insatiable thirst for knowledge, one that I apparently shared with this strange blond boy sitting opposite me with a soft smile as he debated the merits of a popular wizard writer.

The kids were also becoming increasingly attached to Scorpius as well, there was an almost a constant stream of demands for more play-dates and more sleepovers, I felt so proud that they had accepted him so willingly and unquestioningly. I remember on one of the rare days that Ginnys children hadn't been able to come, just standing by the window and watching as Rose and Scorpius huddled together in the sunlit garden plotting nefariously and giggling every now and again. Rose seemed to have taken it upon herself to be the one to look after Scorpius in particular, she was older than him by a couple of months and so had decided that she would take on the role of his older and wiser sister. It was one of the few things keeping me sane during that time.

I loved Ron, I really did and I was happy with him, but my conversations with Draco had reminded me of all the ambitions I once had, ambitions I had slowly lost as I morphed into someone I felt Ron wanted me to be. I still worked yes, but I was doing nothing groundbreaking, I wasn't left the time to, Ron spent what seemed like increasingly long hours at the office and I ended up doing most of the housework and looking after Rose, I was even the one to have to watch over Ginnys kids on several occasions when she had Quidditch practice. I felt unbearably restless, trapped.

Sometimes Ron would talk with me about having more kids, I knew he wanted a big family like his own had been and I just knew that I couldn't tell him that I _didn't _want more kids, I instinctively felt that having more kids would simply mean that I would lose myself entirely. In the end I found myself confiding in Draco on one of the afternoons when it was just Scorpius and Rose, and therefore just Draco and I, Ron was at work as usual and I knew I couldn't expect him to be back for several hours.

"Sometimes I almost feel like I'm fading, I had this horrible image come into my head the other day of me ten years from now, surrounded by kids, wearing an apron and looking an awful lot like a brown-haired version of Ron's mother." Draco chuckled at the horrified look on my face, "Not that Molly isn't a wonderful person and a wonderful person, but she likes that, its who she is whereas I would just die inside"

"Then don't let yourself become that, tell Ron to work less so you can follow some of your own dreams" he remarked

"I've tried, that's the worst of it, he doesn't listen to me, as though if he ignores it it will go away and we'll be fine."

"Make him listen. You deserve that." He looked at me then with such an intense expression in his eyes that I actually had to suppress shivers from running down my spine as I looked back at him, scrutinizing him closely as if trying to decipher a particularly stubborn puzzle. We stayed like that for a few moments, silently assessing each other before we were interrupted by two very excited seven year-olds begging for a drink before they could head back out to the garden to continue their game of tig. They didn't seem to mind the fact that as there were only two of them the game wasn't really a proper one, they just enjoyed chasing each other around.

Once they had been catered to and proceeded to race each other back out Draco and I returned to lighter topics of conversation, the previous topic lingered slightly in the air but we seemed to make a silent agreement that the conversation was closed.

Later that night when Scorpius had reluctantly left with many assurances from his father and I that the increasingly inseparable twosome would see each other again soon, I was waiting anxiously for Ron to come home from work. Rose had been put to bed an hour ago and I was sitting comfortably in the living room, mulling over Draco's words, I had long since realised he was utterly right. It was time that I sat Ron down and make him really listen to what I wanted, what I needed in the long run.

The sound of the front door shutting shook me out of my reverie and my hands twitched nervously, _stop being so silly Hermione, _my inner voice chided, _this isn't a big deal, he won't be too disappointed, or at least if he is he'll understand, won't he? _

"Mione?" I heard him call from the hallway, I immediately sprang up from my seat, taking a small moment to stretch out stiff muscles, I hadn't realised how still I had been sitting for the past hour.

"Hey hun, good day at work?" I asked when I saw him, pecking him lightly on the lips before he answered,

"Yeah it was great actually," he said, immediately grinning widely, "that bloody Michael Corner finally pulled his head out of his ass long enough to file that report on the Chaser I was telling you about, plays for the Essex Elfins, so yeah, the Head comes in and he actually smiled, which was kind of creepy, but anyway he's putting me in charge of the whole mess now. Sooo.. I'm going to go and meet the team!" I stood for a couple of seconds trying to process the sudden onslaught of information, I blinked, _wait, he's going away? Now?! _Ron smile slipped and faded as he took in my expression,

"What? I thought you would be happy, I mean you're coming too of course" a small crease of bafflement appeared on his forehead.

"Ron, I can't come with you, you know that" I tried to explain

"Why?"

"Because I have my own work here, I can't just take an impromptu break, the research department need me and what about Rose? She starts back at her muggle primary school next week and I don't think I would be comfortable taking her into that kind of environment anyway, you hear all sorts about professional Quidditch players, sleeping around and taking 'special' potions that get them high. It's hardly a suitable place for a child, surely you see that?" I looked at him exasperatedly, silently wondering how he could have thought this would be a good idea.

"But.. that's just..oh fine nevermind, I'll just go on my own then, blimey I thought you would be happy about this too. I'm leaving the day after tomorrow, my boss says it will probably take a fortnight but I'll try and apparate back whenever I get the chance."

"Alright, I'm happy for you though Ron, I am" I smiled up at him, aware that the conversation about children would have to wait, he pulled me into a hug then, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I sighed into the familiar embrace, he could be a fool sometimes, a fact of which I was only too aware but he was still the first boy I had ever truly fallen in love with.

Later that night I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, listening to Ron's soft snores, thoughts of him and Draco and what I actually wanted for my future chasing each other round and round in my head.

**Reviewers get chocolate, might go treat myself to some too xD **


	4. Chapter 4

**So I'm updating quickly (for me anyway) would you believe it lol, you have keelycal and Dramione-Fan 17 to thank for that and they get their own special thank you from me too for all the encouragement :D**

Chapter 4

Over the next couple of days I mostly busied myself with making sure that Ron would have everything he might need, he had never been terribly good at packing, more often than not it seemed Molly did it for him. I was finding more and more similarities between myself and her, which disturbed me to say the least, after all what woman in her right mind wants to become like their mother-in-law, however nice she is.

Draco came by a couple of times as usual with Scorpius but we didn't have a chance to continue our conversation as Ginny had managed to get a couple of days off from Quidditch practice and I could hardly talk about my marriage problems in front of her. After all everyone who knew her lived in fear and slight awe of her famed bat-bogey hex, she could be a little spit-fire when it came to protecting her family.

Ron himself seemed to be pretending our minor agreement hadn't happened at all and whilst I did worry it over a little, I was in fact slightly grateful, I didn't feel that I was up to a confrontation with Ron at the moment, especially with him going away there wouldn't be enough time to really resolve the issues that I felt had been interfering with our marriage. Or at least that's what I told myself,_ so much for your Gryffindor courage Hermione._

However worried I got over these problems though Draco always seemed to cheer me up on the childrens visits to each other, which had in fact become more frequent over the last week at Scorpius' insistence as he had learned that Rose was going to spending most of her days monday through friday at school as of next week. Both father and son had at first been flabbergasted but Scorpius then went on to being disappointed that his favourite playmate was 'deserting' him whereas Draco had been understanding about it. We had a long in depth discussion about the advantages and the dangers, whether or not it was advisable for the larger wizarding community in order to teach children to respect and understand muggles better. This was the type of conversation I loved, Draco never failed to fire up my synapses and I found myself wondering what might have been if his upbringing hadn't been what it was, if we could have been years of friendship rather than the short past two months in which we were just getting to know each other.

Sometimes I caught myself smiling slightly at the memory of something funny that he had said earlier in the day as I sat at my desk doing some research for my job and I realised that I seemed to consider him as much my friend now as Harry and Ginny who I had known countless years. It was more than that sometimes though, I felt that I had found my intellectual equal, someone who whilst I discussed obscure branches of magic with was unwittingly reviving my passion for my work. I worked as a part-time researcher for a branch of the ministry dealing with the creation of new spells and charms. I particularly specialised in modernising some of the half forgotten old magic. Whenever I found a spare moment in my day or between the time that Rose was put to bed and Ron came home I could always be found leafing through heavy old tomes that raised small clouds of dust every time I turned the page and a notepad sat next to me as I scribbled down any information I thought might be useful to whichever project I had been assigned most recently.

I often found that I was happiest with my books, the smell of fresh parchment mixed with musty old books bound in leather never failed to make me smile and relax utterly. It was my haven in a way, my study that doubled up as a library was my sanctuary, through the whole course of our marriage Ron had only been in there a couple of times and Rose only once, it was an unspoken understanding that this was mine, entirely and solely, mine.

So that is where I was to be found an hour before Ron would be leaving, not reading but just sitting quietly on my favourite overstuffed chair in the corner, thoughts swirling through my head as I contemplated the fact that my husband was going to be spending the next two weeks away from me and with a bunch of rowdy Quidditch players. Needless to say I was slightly worried. Not that I didn't trust Ron of course, it was more a matter of not trusting the players in any way shape or form.

With a sigh I realised that hiding away from Ron was hardly going to help, as far as I was aware he was currently making last minute preparations upstairs, luckily Draco had seemed to understand that I might want to have the chance to say goodbye to Ron alone today and therefore Rose was visiting Scorpius at Draco's house rather than the other way around and had said goodbye to Ron earlier.

I got up from my chair and made my way through the house to find Ron, he was as I had thought upstairs muttering quietly under his breath about pairs of socks, for a moment I just stood there in the doorway of our bedroom looking fondly at him and the familiar expression of confusion on his face before making him aware of my presence. When I did he immediately looked up with a smile and crossed over to me, his arm snaking its way around my waist.

"There you are my lovely wife, I figured you were doing some work when I heard you go into the study so I was going to let you be for a while but seeing as your here now, I've been comtemplating the many ways in which to say goodbye to you even if it is only a short time and I rather wanted to discuss them with you" his grin had an element of cheek and slight bashfulness to it now, _an equally familiar expression_, I thought as he bent his head down to kiss me. His lips held all the gentleness and affection of a many years of marriage and I found myself melting into gently as always.

I wondered briefly what I had been so worried about, Ron was my husband, I loved him and of course he wouldn't be pulled into anything that I wouldn't approve of even if he did get a bit star-struck, after all he was in fact a star in his own right now with the war and all. Just at that moment however Ron started to deepen the kiss and alarmingly I found that Draco flitted unbidden into my thoughts. My eyes flashed open in shock and I only just managed to retain enough sense not to pull away from the kiss, that was something I didn't think I would be able to explain.

My mind raced frantically, _why the hell would I think of Draco when I'm kissing Ron? Surely that's just wrong, of course it is, to be thinking about anther man when your kissing your husband? It doesn't get much more wrong than that Hermione. _Ron still had his eyes closed, intent on the kiss and I found myself studying his features, the freckles across his nose, the short dark eyelashes, _this is the man I love, completely, wholeheartedly and unconditionally, right?_

Ron pulled back then and smiled at me lazily, "I never quite get used to that" I smiled back and nodded, not trusting myself to speak at the moment, the truth was I was used to it, I was even used to the fact that most of the time he followed his intimate gestures with that particular phrase. _But that was familiar, comforting, wasn't it? Shit, I can't believe one stray thought about Draco while I'm kissing Ron suddenly has me questioning my whole marriage. This is insane!_

During the next half an hour or so before Ron left I was extremely quiet but luckily he didn't seem to notice, excited as he was to be meeting famous Quidditch players, or at least if he did he probably put it down to the fact that I was still worried about him leaving and so didn't pass comment. Our goodbye was sweet, I told him that I loved him more than I might usually have done, my inner voice immediately making some sly comment about feeling guilty but I blocked it out and focused on Ron.

Later I phoned up Draco and asked if it would be okay for Rose to stay the night, just hearing his voice suddenly sent shivers down my spine and I kept the conversation as short as possible. I went back into the stud then and curled up on my chair, staring into space with only my thoughts for company. I didn't go to bed till the small hours of the morning.

**Thoughts? I quite enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you like it too :) -xx-**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I woke up the next morning with my head aching feeling distinctly groggy, I stretched out in my newly empty bed and pulled the covers over my head not wanting to face everything again, it had been bad enough yesterday with Ron's departure and my strange 'revelations'. Although I never really managed to come to any conclusion other than whatever it might imply about my marriage I refused to let it interfere, Draco has become a friend but any feelings I might have imagined were simply of no consequence. I sighed and pulled my covers back down, the world was hardly going to go away just to suit me, the best thing I can do I think, is to face this head on, I'm seeing Draco today anyway, I would just have make sure to reassure myself that I don't think of him as anything other than a friend. It's probably only because I've been feeling restless in my relationship with Ron, that's the only reason Draco crossed my mind when I was kissing him, after all, Ron is one of the very few guys I have ever kissed, its natural that I might be a bit curious, isnt it? Either way, it doesn't matter, I'm just being silly, it was a stray thought and I refuse to let my marriage be jeopardised by it.

_Only, that's not the only thing jeopardising your marriage is it?_

_Shut up! Dammit_, in one swift movement I was out of bed and on my feet, contemplating my bedroom quietly as I ran through what I had to do today, the best cure for unwelcome thoughts was always work, I was an expert at distracting myself from problems. I considered getting my morning routine over quickly in the same way that I always did, but something held me back, here I was with the house entirely to myself for the first time in goodness knows how long, why would I bother wasting the opportunity by sticking to my normal routines? I smiled to myself, feeling instantly better as I shoved all thoughts of Draco and Ron to the very back of my mind, thinking instead of the best way in which to make the most of an empty house. I would be picking Rose up at about midday so that left me with a fair few hours as it was only 8 o'clock now, revelling quietly in the fact that I could take as much time as I wanted getting ready, it was an indulgence rarely gratified.

I spent the next 45 minutes having a gorgeously long shower and browsing through my closet for a nice outfit instead of my usual comfortably frayed jeans and large jumper. In the end I settled for a long skirt with the colours of a storm, purples, blues and charcoals, that I loved but rarely wore, it hugged to my slim waist and flowed down past my hips, with it I wore a long sleeved black top that accentuated my curves. Smiling to my reflection as I applied a small amount of make-up and brushed out my hair, I had to admit that I looked nice and in fact rather loved it even if it was only for my own benefit. _Though Draco will be seeing you like this later, won't he? _said a sly voice in my head, I shoved it away, sternly reassuring myself that that had nothing to do with my choosing to wear something a little less middle-aged. I wasn't even thirty yet for Merlin's sake, though it was looming closer, I should be allowed to wear something a little frivolous now and again without it having to mean anything.

Feeling more determined than ever to make the most of the morning I headed downstairs with a small bounce in my step, when I got to the kitchen, my hands automatically started picking out what I needed from the cupboards and preparing my favourite breakfast, french toast and a delicious cup of hot chocolate. Just as I was finishing up I heard the peck of an owl at the window, I opened it up immediately and collected the Daily Prophet from the nondescript brown owl as I fished out a five knuts from the coin jar I kept in the kitchen for such an instance. _Perfect timing, _I thought to myself as I carried my plate and cup over to the breakfast nook with the paper under my arm, it looked like today would be a good day after all, despite the mess of yesterday.

A little while later when I had finished and washed up, I went to my study and picked out a worn copy of Jane Eyre, I had always admired the unassuming determination and strength of the heroine and often came back to it as a source of comfort. Taking it into the living room I switched some music on in the background and settled down on the sofa with my legs tucked under me and a blanket pulled over me. Altogether I was in a position of utmost comfort, reading a book I loved and listening to relaxing music, _so why do I feel unbearably restless? _

There was just over an hour until I would be picking up Rose, I should have been enjoying what time I had, put the words on the page in front of me blurred and I was barely aware that there was music playing at all, I just couldn't focus. _What is wrong with me? _I chewed on the corner of my bottom lip fitfully, trying to get rid of the strange feeling of dissatisfaction and agitation that had lodged itself in my stomach but as soon as I tried to think of what was bothering me Draco's face rose up in my thoughts. _This is ridiculous, first you think of him when your kissing Ron and now this? You haven't thought about him like this before, why now? _

_Because now that I have considered him in a more than friendly light, unwittingly or not, I just can't seem to stop._

I sighed in frustration, drumming my fingers on the armrest subconsciously as I tried to wrestle with my thoughts, _admittedly Draco is extremely handsome, I'd have to be blind not to realise that, and of course he's proved himself to be kind and intelligent but its not like he can offer me anything that Ron can't, right? Beside we're both married, these are horrible things to be thinking,_ _I love Ron, of course I do, there's no-one else for me, we have each other and we have Rose. Just because he frustrates me sometimes and doesn't listen the way Draco does and doesn't always appreciate me, does not mean I'm going to give up on him._I shook my head and tried again to focus on the familiar words of my book, but my gaze kept being drawn back to my watch, the hands innocently eating up the time I had left before I would be seeing Draco again.

Less than two hours.

One hour.

30 minutes.

10.

I blinked, the damn watch is wrong, of course it is, I look up at the clock on the wall, 9 minutes, _merlin! _I stand up suddenly, my book falling to the floor with a soft_ thump, _the blood rushes to my head and I have to sit down again whilst I wait for my vision to clear, mentally reprimanding me all the while for being such a fool. Shaking my head in a swift jerky motion to dispel the last of the dizziness I stood up again and picked my book up from the floor, placing it softly down on the coffee table. I glanced up at the clock again, 5 minutes, knots clenched in my stomach and even as I resented it, I couldn't seem to stop myself from getting nervous, subconsciously smoothing down my clothes I went swiftly to pick up some shoes and my handbag. I dithered a few moments on what shoes would look alright with my skirt and despairingly wondered where the sensible and intelligent witch I had known myself to be, had gone. Finally, with a slightly faster heart rate than should have been normal I found myself ready and apparated to the front of Draco's house.

It only took me a few seconds to get my bearings when I got there and looked up at the impressive but welcoming facade of the three story house he lived in now, apparently he had left Malfoy Manor as soon as possible, too many bad memories he had said. Trying somewhat unsuccessfully to pull back some semblence of control over my pulse by reminding myself that I was being foolish, I walked up to the door and knocked.

I only had to wait a few moments and then the door was opening, Draco stood there, his head turned slightly away as he called for Rose before turning to face me, with slight trepidation I saw him blink as his eyes flickered down and back up again in response to my less than customary wardrobe.

"Hi" he smiled at me invitingly and I automatically grinned back, "the kids are just finishing packing up Rose's stuff, come in"

**Sorry this was so late out, I'm awful aren't I, my only excuse is that school works been getting the best of me I'm afraid, my teachers seem to be bent on sending me to entirely new levels of stress lol, but I'm on half term now so I should be able to balance it out a bit more and get the next chapter out a bit quicker to make up for it :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Would it t'were mine but alas it is not, otherwise that epilogue would really not have been written and Draco would have had a much bigger role :)**

Chapter 6

Unfamiliar trepidation beat through my veins as I entered the familiar halls of Draco's home made worse by the distinct feeling that Draco was feeling a little uncomfortable himself, in fact he was being rather distant with me in a way that he hadn't been since we had first started becoming friends. Rose and Scorpius were giggling upstairs doing last minute 'packing', which was really just an excuse to mess about some more, so Draco and I moved through to the kitchen to have some tea and chat with each other whilst we waited. It had become a common enough occurrence that the kids would delay leaving for as long as possible that we had all settled into a sort of routine, it was most likely that Rose wouldn't really be ready for another hour.

Sitting down at the little breakfast table at the far end of Draco's kitchen I noted that he already knew by heart how I liked my tea, it made me smile for some reason and I immediately started to feel more comfortable, Draco was just a friend after all, a good friend though. As we settled down across from each other over the table, I sensed the slight uneasiness again though we both seemed to be trying our hardest to ignore it as we ran through the more common topics of conversation. There did of course come a point where the conversation ran dry, apparently we were both a little preoccupied with our own thoughts, strangely I found myself mourning the nature of the friendship that we had had before my brain decided to mess everything up by daring to contemplate the idea of him ever being something more. That small attraction I was beginning to feel towards Draco, that I really couldn't help but muse over when he was so close and looking so utterly..edible, that little pull, had changed something between us irrevocably, whether Draco would ever be aware of it or not, _I_ was aware of it and it made a world of difference.

After a couple of minutes of these inner musings, Draco cleared his throat, the interruption of the silence pulling me sharply back to the present, "You're looking, um, nice" I blinked, a little disconcerted by his obvious skittishness as well as the immediate retreat back into himself as soon as the words were out that suggested he wished he had never spoken them, not to mention the sudden lack of his usual eloquence.

"I guess I just had a bit more time to get ready today, I don't usually have enough time to check my heads screwed on never mind choosing something to wear that I actually like" I joked, hoping to ease a little of the tension that had manifested itself in the set of his shoulders and his straitlaced posture, it seemed to help a little, thank Merlin, if Draco was going to be nervous and out of sorts today too, I had no hope. It made me curious though as to why giving me a compliment might be a big deal, perhaps he was worried about offending me somehow, maybe he even thought that we weren't close enough as friends for that type of rapport to be acceptable. I didn't like that thought, at all, I had thought we had grown quite as close as I had ever been with the Weasleys, but now it nagged at me, what if he was not as comfortable with me as I was with him, what if he didn't count me as a particularly close friend at all?

I suddenly felt as if someone had Vanished my insides, I looked at Draco, smiling slightly at me, and was seized by a fierce desire to know exactly how he saw me, whether his old prejudices had truly gone, I needed to know if he valued my friendship, if he valued me, as I valued him. "Draco?" I started, my mind working frantically to figure out how exactly I was going to say this,

"_Yeah_?" nothing but warmth and curiosity in those silver eyes, _I'm being silly, I know I am, but.._

"Would you say we've become pretty close friends?" I blurted out, it was his turn to blink this time

"Well, yes, wouldn't you? I mean, _I _thought we were getting along quite well, I can certainly talk more easily to you than with the other Weasleys and Potter, in fact I can probably talk to you more easily than the rest of my friends, few as they are" he chuckled wryly, "I tend to have to be quite politically guarded around that lot, why?" he frowned questioningly at me and in an effort to quell the flare of warmth I was feeling, as though I had just had my insides dropped back in their rightful place only to be washed down with a gallon of Butterbeer, I focused on answering him instead.

"Yes of course, I agree, I was just wondering you know, we've come such a long way in a relatively short time as it is but I do count you as a very good friend Draco" I said, not really succeeding at all in trying to suppress the huge grin already spreading across my face, finding an answering grin on his face that was actually, well, a little breathtaking to be truthful.

_And, no, that was not my heart that just jumped__ slightly._

_(Even if it was, you'll never be able to prove it.)_

The rest of the time was spent talking comfortably to each other as usual, the only possible difference being that my stomach would occassionally squirm slightly and I couldn't seem to stop smiling, luckily enough I don't think Draco noticed anything odd about it, he was smiling too. When I finally got Rose home after some lengthy goodbyes, not just between the children though it wasn't something I would ever admit out loud, I busied myself with settling into the routine of looking after her and doing some research for work, though not nearly as much as I had planned. I found myself a little distracted as my mind insisted upon replaying parts of my conversation with Draco again and again, as if experiencing just the once was not in any way _enough_, its a wonder I didn't bite straight through my bottom lip with the amount of times I found myself chewing it absentmindedly and frowning about the warm little bubble that had started to expand in my chest during the morning, I'd like to think that I was at least sensible enough to know that it wasn't something I _should _be feeling.

Whilst I was making Rose's lunch I was so lost in my thoughts as I stared unseeingly out of the window that I ended up nicking my finger with the kitchen knife, it was getting ridiculous, it was actually making me feel restless and jittery, it couldn't be helped, I loved Ron, of course, he's my husband, but I simply can't deny the fact that I'm helplessly attracted to Draco at the same time. Thankfully Rose didn't notice how distracted I was as she talked cheerfully about Scorpius and their plans for the next time that all the children would be together, listening to her talk and encouraging her at all the correct moments I revelled slightly in the pure lack of complication that came with loving her totally, my daughter. At least I was not feeling any conflict about her, my warring emotions concerning Ron and Draco were quite enough to deal with without having any other qualms to worry about, in fact it was more than enough to deal with, I thought I had left heartache behind me after the war, I thought I would be happy with Ron for the rest of my life, I could never have imagined ever feeling the doubt I was feeling now.

Though, apparently heartache never does quite leave you alone, there is only the possibility of respite from time to time, I shook my head as if to shake the thought from my head, I was being a little ridiculous and I knew it, Rose had left to play in the garden with her toy broomstick and as soon as I find myself alone I start acting melodramatic. It was simple really, the only thing pulling me towards Draco was my hormones, I was still young after all and it was perfectly natural for me to be desiring other men like this, other women probably do it throughout their marriages, it doesn't mean that they love their spouses any less. Draco was just something new that was exciting me briefly as my life had been becoming increasingly monotonous and monochrome beforehand, it didn't mean a _damn _thing, I will work at my marriage and I _will _be happy with Ron.

It was only later when Ron apparated home for a brief visit and told me that he had missed me that I realised I hadn't missed him at all, I had been thinking about Draco all day instead.

**I can't believe I have actually got this chapter out at a fairly decent time, I'm rather pleased even if I am writing it at 4 o'clock in the morning because I can't sleep :P still I rather loved being able to write Draco being a bit cute :D hes so adorable, and guess what, I am officially 18 years and 1 week old today lol, its a little weird being an 'adult' cause I either grew up a long time ago or I'll never grow up at all, can't quite figure out which yet lol  
Anyway, enough of my ramblings, I'll try and get the next chapter out quickly, I've got a few ideas as to how I want it to go and I'm pretty sure I'll be ending it on a cliffy with sodden!Draco standing on Hermiones porch in the rain because yes I am actually a twelve year old who has read one too many romance novels, but I promise not to be too cliche, he won't be declaring his love, something a bit more ominous actually but you'll just have to wait :) ~XX~**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I practically threw myself at Ron when he arrived, my conscience nagged that I was trying to compensate but I felt too out of sorts to even bother to acknowledge the truth of it, I just wanted something familiar and safe for a little while. Luckily Ron didn't seem to notice my overly clingy behaviour too much, or at all really, so wrapped as he was in expostulating on the 'business trip of a lifetime', Rose ran in and jumped on his lap at that point, Ron glanced at me briefly expressing his surprise and amusement, it had almost seemed like she had been starting to grow out of that sort of thing. It made me want to scoop her up and hug her, as erratic and mischievous as she could be, she seemed to bring some normalcy to my life, a sense of being sure of myself at least where she was concerned and looking after her often got me through some of the tougher days when I feared my marriage really was falling apart in front of my eyes.

Once Rose was put to bed Ron asked me to make him some dinner before he headed back, I rooted around in the cupboards a bit and cobbled together one of his favourite meals, it was as much for me as for him, doing it eased the feeling of guilt to the back of my mind and brought back nostalgic memories of being newly-weds. He chatted a bit more as I pottered about, trying to explain to me the relative merits of the players who he was working with but Quidditch had always been one of the few things I just didn't understand, or rather the appeal of it wasn't something I understood. I just listened to Ron's voice instead and wondered how things had started to get so messed up, was there a particular moment when we had just let things slip away, when my love for Ron had started to fade, lost in a multitude of demands and expectations.

Once I was finished we sat opposite each other in companionable silence, for my part I continued to contemplate the state of my marriage, trying to fulfil my promise to myself and find a way to make things work, make things better, Ron was simply enjoying his food and it didn't take him long to polish it off and push his plate to the side.

"I've been thinking..." he started and a spark of hope flared in me that he had realised things weren't working as well as they might, that he might want to try and fix things like I did, that he wasn't as oblivious as he usually was. "Rose seems to be really enjoying her time with Scorpius doesn't she? Plus we both know how much she loves seeing her cousins," _maybe not then, but then what was this about? _"I think she would be just as happy to have a little brother or sister don't you? I mean we've always known we would have more kids, whats the point in having just the one after all when you can have a whole little brood of the little guys? I figured we would keep using the contraceptive charms for a little while so that we could get used to looking after Rose and I know you wanted a bit of time with your work but now seems as good a time as any to try again right? What do you think?" he looked up at me with an expectant and complacent grin, he simply couldn't imagine that I would say no.

_Oh Merlin, what the hell do I say?_

My smile was frozen on my face, my thoughts twisted and turned and raced after one another as I tried to figure out how to get past this, how to explain to him that I didn't want anymore kids. The silence stretched and a small worried frown appeared on Ron's face,

"What is it?"

"I..I.." I struggled with the words, it felt like everything was falling apart around me, if I had another child then it would be another and another until I was so worn out, surrounded by this 'brood' that Ron so wanted, that I lost all sense of self. I would have to give up all that I had worked so hard for, there would be no time for my books, for my research and the very image of it terrified me but if I said no it would hurt Ron, it could end up being the final straw in our marriage and I promised myself I would try. I smiled at him reassuringly,

"Sorry, it was just a little sudden is all, we can certainly think about it if you want" I watched with a strange mixture of resignation and apprehension as Ron smiled warmly with relief, the worried frown completely gone.

"Good, I'm glad, maybe we'll talk about it when I get back, yeah?"

"Sure"

"Brilliant, I should probably be heading back then hon, I'll see you soon okay?" he stood up and kissed me lightly before apparating out with a sharp _crack, _I stayed frozen for a moment then slowly I sank down to lay my head on the table, using my arms as a pillow, a shaky sigh falling from my lips. To have this thrown in on top of everything else, I felt like my head was about to explode and all I wanted to do was just lie down and rest, _let go and give up,_ but shutting my eyes wasn't about to make any of it go away. The war in itself had taught me enough to know that wallowing never did anything, bad things couldn't just be willed away they had to be faced head on .

_I am Hermione Granger dammit, the cleverest witch of the age._

_Right, _in one swift movement I was on my feet with a set expression and feeling better than I had in days, a few emotional problems were not going to cripple me, I would act as I had always done and think about the problem rationally. Out of subconscious habit I started pacing up and down the kitchen, a frown of concentration wrinkling my forehead, if I simply sat Ron down and explained to him that I didn't want anymore kids then he can hardly force me to. No doubt it will cause tension and arguments and all sorts of unpleasantness I would rather avoid but equally its something that needs to be done. If we manage to work through it then we will be stronger for it surely?

Somewhere along the line I seem to have completely lost control of my life I thought wryly, I could possibly date it from the time that Draco appeared in my life but I could hardly attribute all of the problems in my marriage to him, no, rather Ron and I are to blame for becoming complacent and not talking to each other properly about things. I should have said something when I started to feel suffocated instead of letting it slide and just hoping it would work itself out but now I've let it get to the stage where I'm beginning to resent Ron for trying to turn me into his own image of a wife and mother, and falling for another man.

A guttural rumble startled me from my musings, a thunder storm was just making its appearance making me smile slightly, _how fitting_, the rain started to pour down and I found myself oddly comforted by the familiar sound, I had always had a fondness for the more turbulent forces of nature, they had a magic of their own. I went to check in on Rose, she had never expressed a fear of thunder storms before but a mothers instincts prompted me to check that she was alright, I pushed the bedroom door open a little so that just a little sliver of light illuminated her bed. She looked utterly peaceful, still sleeping as though the house could fall down around her ears and still she would carry on sleeping, her little shoulders rising rhythmically up and down with the pace of her slow breathing.

I smiled and closed the door soundlessly deciding to go and read some of my research books in my study, halfway down the hallway my thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door, I turned round and went to open it feeling a little puzzled as I wasn't exactly expecting anyone. The door opened on a soaking wet Draco, peering up at me through his dripping hair, his jaw tight and his shoulders hunched.

"Draco? What..?"

"Scorpius, he..they..they took him. You have to help me" he reached forward and grabbed my hand, his eyes frantic and in an instant I felt the terror that gripped him, _his son, his child, taken._

"Who Draco? Who took him?" I said swallowing down nausea

"The vigilantes, its fucking my fault, its me they want, what the hell did Scorpius ever fucking do to them? I'll rip their guts out for this and I don't care if I end up in Azkaban for it"

"We just need to think for a moment, do you have any leads? How do you know it was them?" my brain was spinning now, this was what I did best, I'd heard about the vigilantes of course, everyone had since they were in the Daily Prophet nearly every week, punishing ex-Death Eaters and everyone who had been supporting them in the war. They were sick, completely destroying their targets from the inside out so that almost all were going to be in St Mungos for the rest of their lives, many in the mental health ward. Fear clawed at me at the thought of Scorpius being in their hands.

"They sent a note" he handed it to me, his fingers shaking slightly from agitation.

_~  
We saved you till last Malfoy  
Your sins have not been forgotten, we are here to make sure that you get what you deserve  
But perhaps you want to redeem yourself  
Would you die for your son Malfoy?  
Or will you leave him to die for you?  
We are at one of the old hideouts that you and your fellow scum used during the war  
Time is ticking and Scorpius is so very vulnerable  
~_

Gripping the thin piece of paper tightly I looked up and met Draco's silvery eyes, resolve and understanding flashing between us.

**Woot, I get to do some action plot :) was really not sure about that last line but overall I think I managed to get down what I needed to in this chapter and the next one should be fun, let me know what you think anyway ~XX~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Not mine..**

Chapter 8

I left Draco pacing agitatedly in the kitchen as I went to get Rose up and dressed, half my mind already frantically listing all the possible spells and charms I might need to make use of even as the other half dealt with Rose's questions. Mostly I just made promises to explain it all to her later and carried on packing her a small rucksack hurriedly as she dressed. Finally she was ready and I moved swiftly into the living room with her tailing behind, it didn't take long then to contact Ginny and ask if I could leave Rose with her for however long rescuing Scorpius might take, thankfully she took it all in her stride and didn't waste time with unnecessary questions, I had never been more grateful for her good sense, I asked too whether there was any chance Harry was there to help us.

"I'm sorry Mione, he's busy on a case at work, I don't know how long it will take him" she said regretfully

"Don't worry about it, just let him know where I've gone and is there any chance you could let Ron know as well, I don't really have the time to-"

"Of course, just go and do what you have to do to bring him back" I nodded firmly and turned to Rose, feeling tendrils of the fear and trepidation that I had so far managed to keep at bay by sheer force of will.

"Be good, I'll be back soon, okay?" she nodded mutely and I pulled her into a tight hug only to find myself reluctant to let go, strangely it crossed my mind that for the first time I was glad I had been young myself during the war and so not had a child that I had to part from before going into danger.

When I had said my final goodbyes I turned to go back to the kitchen to get Draco only to find him standing in the doorway already, his eyes strangely haunted even as his face was set in lines of grim determination.

"What's first?" I asked, my own resolve strengthening to mirror his so that my focus was entirely on Scorpius.

"We visit every Death Eater hideout till we find them, then we destroy them" he answered, his voice chillingly flat and I felt a shiver of sympathy, having your child taken away, and as an indirect result of your own past as well, was something I couldn't even imagine.

"We should probably have some sort of plan of action" I pointed out

"Then we use the simplest one of all, divide and conquer" he grinned suddenly though it was more like a baring of his teeth than any sort of smile, he reminded me of a predator and this time I felt a shiver of anticipation rather than sympathy, I nodded and moved slightly closer to him almost unconsciously.

"Do you know where to go?"

"Of course" he said, his tone flat again and the shadows in his eyes flickering again though it seemed more to do with the past than the present this time, without my noticing he came up to me suddenly and wrapped a hand around my arm gently before I felt the tug of apparition.

With a sharp crack we arrived in a dense forest somewhere, I stumbled slightly and Draco reached out and steadied me gently whilst checking around us to see if there was anyone to notice us, luckily the forest stayed quiet except for the quiet sound of our breathing.

"Where are we?" I whispered

"Somewhere near Abergavenny in Wales, there's a hideout not too far from here just to the south, I've no doubt they would have had wards to alert them if we had apparated too close. Come on" I followed behind him as he led us through the trees moving slightly closer to the edge but keeping just far enough in to make sure that we had decent cover though not so far that we couldn't see anything nearby.

After about 20 minutes I eventually felt the presence of strong wards hanging in the air not far from us, Draco nodded absently to himself as though to say things were as he expected them to be, I opened my mouth to offer my help with dismantling them but he shook his head before I got a chance to say anything.

"Only someone who has been a Death Eater can neutralise these ones"

"Then doesn't that mean the vigilantes haven't been here if they couldn't have dismantled the wards"

"Not necessarily, they could have tortured someone who would have known till they found out how the wards worked for themselves."

"Right, I should have thought of that" I said, shaking my head in annoyance at myself, it didn't take long for Draco to break through he wards at that point and we started to edge forwards, surreptitiously casting disillusionment spells on ourselves, there didn't seem to be anybody about as we came towards what looked like a small hillock at first but then it became clearer that it was an entrance to a sort of underground base.

So far there had still been no sign of anyone and after a few small detection spells to reveal any nearby magical signatures that came up with nothing we carried on down into the tunnel that headed downwards into the earth. The place was dank and musty and more than once I had to stifle the urge to sneeze, my heart pumped steadily, my limbs set ready for sudden movement in case this was an ambush and my mind carefully blank as I relied on my instincts.

By the time we reached the antechamber we had realised that the place was entirely deserted, not this particular hideout then, with a curse Draco spun around and took us back to the surface where he apparated the two of us to the next place. Then the next place after that and the next. I hadn't even realised there were so many of them still hidden around the country as we moved from one place to another carefully dismantling the wards each time and casting detection spells before moving in closer, each time encountering disappointment only.

It was the middle of the night now and tiredness was beginning to creep into my limbs as persistent as the cold, Draco was almost entirely silent now, his eyes glinting, the last place we had been to he had almost destroyed out of frustration on finding that once again there was no-one there. I had given up asking him where we were about 5 stops past, though from the way that my breath frosted in the air I guessed that we were a little further north than we had been, I quickly cast a spell to hide it so that it wouldn't reveal us whilst we were under disillusionment charms.

I watched the set of Draco's shoulders as he worked on the latest set of wards with my occasional help, part of me badly wanted to try and offer him some comfort but I knew that it wouldn't be welcome at the moment, he was more comfortable in his stoicism and determination at the moment. Suddenly he gasped quietly, his wand hand freezing in the air making me go immediately on alert, I glanced around me in case Draco had seen someone but I soon realised it was the wards that had caused the startled reaction. Underneath those specific to Death Eaters which Draco had just dismantled were glittering new ones. This was the place, it had to be.

Luckily they were wards that I could dismantle in a heartbeat as well, which I nudged Draco aside to do, a few clever flicks of my wand and I was moving swiftly but soundlessly forwards, my limbs invigorated by the taste of triumph I knew was now within reach. Draco immediately moved beside me and I could see his hands tremble slightly with anticipation, his jaw clenched so hard that I wouldn't have been surprised if it hurt.

We soon came upon the hideout, a house this time which appeared to have glamours placed on it to make it look as though the roof was caved in and the rest of the place barely standing, I had enough experience to recognise the house was perfectly sturdy and large enough to rival one of the smaller pureblood mansions.

This time when we cast the detection spells numerous magical signatures became apparent but most importantly was the half-formed one that I recognised as Scorpius', Draco let out a sharp breath through his teeth when he saw that creating a strange hissing sound that conveyed his utter fury. I wasn't aware of much in the next few minutes as we edged carefully around the house to find a point of entry as the front door would be too obvious, I only knew that my head buzzed with the silence around us as I strained my ears for any sound of the kidnappers.

Finally we found a small side door, it was guarded of course by wards and according to a more specific detection spell, two people just on the inside who would probably be alerted as soon as anyone set to work on the wards but here was where Draco's plan would come into play, if we could entice them outside without allowing them to contact anyone else first then that was two less threats to deal with. We spoke in hurried whispers for a few moments, I wanted to use a spell that acted as a small flare whilst Draco pointed out that it would catch too much attention.

It was settled within a matter of moments though when we realised with a small alteration of a cloaking spell we could hide the light caused by the flare from anyone but our two targets. The spells were cast and immediately two wizards came through the door casting lumos spells, I caught Draco's eye silently and fire flashed between us. We rose up from behind the remains of a small stone wall and struck.

_Divide and conquer._

**Kickass!Draco and Kickass!Hermione woot :D hope you like the chapter anywho, sorry to delay the whole rescuing of Scorpius thing but it sorta made sense that it would take them a while to find him, happy new year btw :) ~xx~**


	9. Chapter 9

**I still don't own them, unless I somehow morphed into JK overnight without my realising..**

Chapter 9

Both wizards went down quickly, only one of them managed to get over their initial shock fast enough to shoot off a spell of their own and Draco deflected it easily before sending a curse of his own, I felt a moment of worry then whilst I brought down the other wizard with a full body bind as I hadn't recognised the curse he used. I trusted him not to use Dark arts though given that his past use of them was part of the reason he was in this situation in the first place and I could hardly expect his to be kind to his son's captors.

When we reached the door we could see more clearly the glittering web of a ward that would alert someone inside if anyone unknown tried to get through, I studied them for a moment then turned to Draco who was still staring at them fixedly with a frown of concentration with a confidant smile.

"I can break these, I've studied them in my work all I have to do is unravel the knot in the centre slightly to alter the magic that makes up its core and then it becomes entirely redundant without anyone being the wiser, we'll be able to ambush them" he smiled at me so brightly then that I was glad of the excuse of having to turn back to the wards just so that I could hide my blush. I briefly chided myself for acting like a schoolgirl before focusing my mind and magic entirely on the wards in front of me, in the corner of my eye I saw Draco shift slightly so that he could keep watch for any other guards or patrols.

I felt my focus intensify as I recalled all my knowledge about the wards in front of me and slowly used my magic to tug at the strands that held the knot together in the middle, with a few soft incantations I could feel it loosening and had to restrain a spark of triumph that would have broken my concentration. I directed a strand of my own magic to make use of the small holes that were being created to locate the core, for a few breathless moments I thought I had gone wrong somewhere as the core didn't become apparent when I thought that it would, I choked down panic as I realised how easily we might be attacked if the wards had alerted someone to our presence after all.

Therefore it was with a small choked sound of relief that I finally found the core and swiftly deactivated the spells I needed to whilst leaving enough of the ward there to give the outward appearance that it hadn't been tampered with. I nodded to Draco to catch his attention and quietly opened the door, the light inside was relatively dim but I didn't dare use a lumos spell, thankfully the room was empty so we had a few moments to breathe, I glanced at Draco taking strength from his own fortitude. There were just two doors leading out of the room, one opened onto a small pantry and the other onto a long hallway.

Draco went first this time, we moved slowly, stopping every few steps to listen for any sound of movement that would alert us to the fact that someone was coming down from the other end, a hallway wasn't exactly conducive to making an ambush. We passed just two doors, I checked inside whilst Draco kept a lookout, both were worn down bedrooms covered in what looked like an inch of dust. Finally we reached the end of the long corridor as it branched out into a few smaller ones, holding our breaths slightly as we checked around the corners we found the place empty still.

I was just beginning to wonder whether this place was another dead end as Draco looked at me, expressing the same though silently, when I caught the faint sound of speech coming from from a little way down the right-hand corridor behind one of the doors. My body froze for a moment as my ears strained to pick up the sounds and make sure they really were coming from behind that door and I noticed absently that Draco was doing the same thing.

Draco swiftly jerked his head to get me to follow him as he moved forwards, his wand levelled at the door, adrenaline coursed through my veins and even the smallest sound of my feet moving across the floor seemed impossibly loud. We opened the door quickly this time to surprise whoever was behind it only to find that it opened onto a small dark staircase that ended with another door, evidently the basement. Feeling only a grim determination now with all other thoughts shut off I went down the stairs as quietly as I could manage behind Draco, absently casting a slight cushioning spell on my feet to reduce the sound of them landing on the old wood, it was obvious now that the main group of kidnappers were here given the level of noise.

At the bottom we nodded to each other and Draco prepared to open the door quickly again, apparently we wouldn't even be given the chance to use our tactic of picking them off in small groups, we would have to use every trick we knew to get through this and bring Scorpius back safe.

The next few seconds were a blur as Draco ripped open the door and we stepped out from the dingy staircase to a brightly lit stone basement filled with about ten wizards and witches, all eyes turned to us and wands were drawn immediately and it seemed that the battle would begin immediately before someone near the back cleared their throat and moved forwards. He obviously had authority here as the people around us lowered their wands a little and moved back to make way for him, I was annoyed that I didn't even recognise him.

"Where's my son?" Draco snarled, the man smiled in a way that he evidently thought charming but was in reality almost twisted with the predatory hunger it showed.

"Right here" he waved a few wizards out of the way to show Scorpius sitting bound to a chair with magical chains. His head lolled on his chest, he wasn't even conscious. A look of pure hatred and anger swept across Draco's face and I wasn't sure mine was any different, that they would do this to a small child, I wanted to tear them limb from limb myself.

"You bastards" I said menacingly

"Now now, it wouldn't do for us to be hasty here now would it?" the man said obviously sensing that we were on the verge of attacking, "You know Malfoy, you were supposed to come alone, I may have to punish you for that, or your son, whichever. No doubt your little spawn is every bit as evil as you," Draco's eyes flashed dangerously but I knew he realised as well as I that it would be better to let this deluded little man talk a little longer so that at least he was lulled into a false sense of security and perhaps revealed what he had done to Scorpius. At any rate there might be back-up plans in place, spells that would activate if we made a wrong move, we had to find out what we could first before tearing into them.

"Now willingly give yourself over to us so that you can die as you were supposed to for the pain that you caused and we'll pass Scorpius over to your friend, does that sound reasonable to you?"

"No" I said, just as Draco said "Yes" I started and turned to him, what happened to fighting them? He was just going to hand himself over?

"Draco, you can't do that, what the hell are you thinking?" I looked at him imploringly but his face was carefully blank and he didn't answer me. _No, no, no! This isn't how its supposed to work! _

"Just hand over my son and you can do whatever you want to me, I'll make sure she doesn't interfere" he glanced at me and I felt myself feeling oddly as if I were drowning, _what the hell is happening? _I watched helplessly as Draco handed over his wand and someone started undoing Scorpius' chains only to place Draco in them, someone tried to grab my arms and I shook them off, pointing my wand at anyone who came near.

"Draco, you better have a bloody good explanation for this or I will hex you myself" I heard the ringleader laugh and a couple of his followers chuckle and anger rose in my like hellfire.

"Give it up, the deal is done, take the boy and leave the Death Eater to his well deserved fate"

"Like hell I will, You don't know who I am do you, I can take each and every last one of you bastards down in a heartbeat" a haze of anger and fear descended over my mind at the thought of leaving Draco here to be tortured and killed.

"Let me talk to her" Draco's voice broke through and I watched as the leader seemed to consider it then he sighed as if we were severely inconveniencing him.

"Fine, just to get her to stop spitting like a wildcat, you have half a minute, my patience is wearing thin and you seem to forget that we still have hold of the boy" I glanced sideways where a witch and wizard were holding him up and couldn't contain a wince before going over to Draco. I knelt beside the chair and found my face extremely close to his so that our breaths mingled slightly.

"Two wands," he whispered, I blinked and then it sunk in, Harry had taken so long returning Draco's wand he had gotten another one in the meantime, he had _two wands, _and evidently had brought them both in order to have a back up, I might have grinned in relief had I not been extremely aware of all the eyes watching us. He turned his head sharply then and kissed my cheek, I immediately blushed involuntarily even as I realised what he was doing, though thankfully the blush at least made the whole thing look more authentic to our audience. He brought his lips close to my ear where no-one could see them moving and whispered instructions.

"Use the blanket stun spell we discussed, I know that you never got a chance to test it properly but its our best chance, when I say now but move Scorpius out of the way first" he pulled back then and I stood up from the floor with a straight back, for the moment I would look as though I was agreeing to everything I was being told to do just as Draco was. The leader made some small inane comment about being glad it could all be sorted out peaceably and I bit back a sharp retort as I moved towards Scorpius and pulled him back away from his captors, I just had to wait for Draco..

"Now!"

**So I'm updating really really quickly and I have no idea why other than I couldn't sleep and was really in the mood to write so here you have it, consider it a belated xmas and new years gift all rolled into one :) Sorry to be dragging the kidnapping thing out though, next chapter will be the last one on it and I've got a few dramatic chapters planned out for after that that focus a bit more on the emotional relationshippy side of things again lots of angst woot, so anyway, review! :) ~XX~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: not mine...**

Chapter 10

Chaos exploded around us as every witch and wizard reacted instinctively and immediately to Draco's shout, throwing curses and hexes at the both of us, I threw up the strongest shield charm I knew and hurriedly wove the mass stunning spell. I felt the magic coursing through me, the power enhanced by adrenaline and it was with a sharp sense of relief that I saw some them start to collapse to the floor, the effect wasn't as instantaneous as a normal spell would be and some tried to continue casting spells even as they began to go limp. The spell was nowhere near perfect but it was working and _that is enough_ I thought as certainty and triumph replaced the fear in my veins.

Time seemed to spin for a moment as I watched the last of them go down and let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding, shakily I turned to check on Scorpius who was still unconscious though after checking I found a strong pulse, there didn't seem to have been severe spell damage but it would be best to get him to St. Mungo's as quickly as possible. Reassured that the small boy was alright for now I went over to Draco to untie him, it was only when I was a couple of steps away from him that I realised he had already used his wand to release himself of course but still he stayed sitting down, hunched over.

_1 second, 2..._

I was beside him before I had even realised I'd started running, dropping down next to the chair I could hear how ragged his breathing was as he looked slowly up at me and smiled wryly.

"Guess I'm not quite as quick as the great Hermione Granger" he chuckled darkly only for his amusement to be swallowed by a bout of coughing, I gently pulled at his hands that were clasped to his side to try and locate the source of his pain, I was sure I knew enough healing spells to fix it. _I can help him, I can make the pain go away if I just try hard enough._ A gasp slipped through my lips when I realised that the whole of his side and his hands was slick with crimson red blood and I had the strange sensation that my own heart beat harder in empathy even as my mind furiously worked to identify the curse.

_The Eviscera Curse. _

Bile rose in my throat unbidden and I forced it back down as I shakily raised my wand to perform a spell that would knit the wound back together, I didn't dare do any more than that for fear of how it might react with the Dark Magic. As I watched the spell work and started to lift Draco up out of the seat my mind seemed to shut down, withdrawing till I could cope with all of the emotion clogging up inside me and making it easier to deal with what needed to be done. Even as I was trying to make sure he was in as little pain as possible as he leant on me to walk and reassuring him that Scorpius hadn't been seriously hurt my mind was jumping ahead, anticipating problems and finding ways to combat them.

It was weird to think that whilst my emotions froze up everything was clearer, more precise and yet at the same time it was as if I was watching everything from behind a hazy screen. I cast a lightening charm on Scorpius and asked Draco whether we should wake him yet, he pointed out that it would probably be safer to wait until they were surrounded by Healers however he was adamant that he try to carry his son rather than have him floated alongside us.

"I won't have him just hung in the air like some rag-doll" he protested

"You're in no state to carry him and I'm already carrying you and I need a spare hand for my wand in case there are more of this lot hanging around" I countered, watching as a muscle in his jaw twitched with tension, his eyes burned with anger and protectiveness for his son and as frustrated as I was with him, I think I fell a little deeper in that moment.

I eventually relented a little of course, agreeing that I would carry Scorpius and Draco would use his wand to take care of any other threats seemingly whilst leaning on me as little as he possibly could, something I noticed rather quickly and soundly scolded him for. Just because my stomach had decided to start doing funny things in his presence didn't mean I was going to let him get away with trying to act like mr. badass who doesn't need any help.

I couldn't help but glance down as we passed the leader on our way out of the room and in the next few seconds the blood in my veins seemed to freeze as I stopped and watched unfamiliar features fade and melt into heartbreakingly familiar ones and dirty brown hair become engulfed into the trademark ginger of a Weasley, _polyjuice potion._

A choked noise that sounded far too much like a sob for my comfort forced its way out of my throat as Draco halted beside me, staring silently down at the prone form of George Weasley.

_George...why?_

"How...why...he...but.." I stuttered, my eyes darting pleadingly between George and Draco and my hands shaking as they clung to Scorpius, this innocent, bright little boy huddled unconscious in my arms. _George did this, he did this to Scorpius and all those other people. _

It was all I could do not to collapse on the floor, this was my family, that someone I knew and cared about so deeply was capable of this...I could already sense my mind shutting down in an attempt to block it all out, deny that what I was seeing was real even as my vision blurred with tears. _I thought he was better, I thought he had given up on the idea of getting revenge for Fred, we all did, I guess he fooled us all along, only telling us what we wanted to hear. How could I have been so blind?_

"Hermione" a soft voice cut through my dulled senses suddenly and I realised that I had no idea how long I had been standing there just staring with Scorpius and Draco still hurt, I blinked back the tears and pulled out every bit of strength and resolve I had left to straighten and nod silently to Draco that I was okay. Avoiding his eyes, which I knew would only be full of enough compassion to make me really break down, and headed towards the door again.

I'm not sure how exactly I made it through the hours after that, when I try to focus on what happened all I get is a blur of events and a chilling feeling of emptiness and detachment. Luckily we didn't come across any more guards once we made our way out of the basement and I quickly apparated the three of us to St. Mungo's where both Scorpius and Draco were whisked away from me almost before I had a chance to say what had happened, a Healer came to see me a little while later to question me, I can't remember what I said but maybe it was the expression on my face more than anything that made her worried about me, I was sent away to 'recuperate' from shock, a childish part of me wanted to laugh in her face.

Images of Draco bleeding, of Scorpius unconscious and bound to a chair, of George lying there on the cold cement floor, so peaceful and innocent looking, all flitted behind my eyelids as I tried to figure out whether I should tell the Weasley's or the Aurors first. In the end I sent a patronus to Harry, I couldn't face Ron then, couldn't face telling him it had been his brother even though I knew instinctively he would have come home upon hearing about everything from Ginny earlier. It was Harry who was able to make the decision after talking to Ginny that the Aurors would be called, promising that he would do what he could to protect George though.

Both Harry and Ginny tried to persuade me to go home and rest but I refused, wanting to make sure Draco was alright, the Healers had said something about having stopped the bleeding but needing to work a little longer to halt the progress of the Dark Magic as it slowly caused more and more damage to him. Scorpius was apparently not suffering from any spell damage but had gone into a state of hysteria upon waking up so was now sleeping peacefully under the influence of a dreamless sleep potion.

Around mid-morning as I was drifting in and out of sleep on a small sofa in the waiting room some aurors came in to question me, I answered as best I could with a sleep-fogged brain and not long after they left I heard a familiar voice calling my name and experienced a strange twist in my gut, somewhere between the need for comfort and fearful apprehension of what he was going to say when he found me.

_Ron..._

**I'm honestly beginning to think that I've become a complete angst-whore, oh well -shrugs- hope you liked the chapter, don't know when I'll be able to get the next one out, I've got a pretty clear idea in my head of what I want to happen though so I'll try not to be too long about it :) Oh and 'Eviscera' is a completely made-up word cause I thought it sounded alright and oddly enough couldn't find a decent latin word for eviscerate lol**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: they don't belong to me :( ..ah well, i get to screw with them anyway so its all gd :D**

Chapter 11

I sat up slowly from the sofa, wincing slightly at the stiffness of my muscles and watched as Ron came hurtling around the corner with a frantic expression, my insides squirmed with guilt and it took quite a bit of effort to try and maintain a reassuring smile as his eyes locked with mine.

"Mione! Finally, where the hell have you been?! What the hell did you think you were doing just running off like that?!" he yelled, his ears turning red with anger and frustration, I barely concealed a flinch before standing up to meet him halfway across the floor.

"I'm sorry, I am, I just couldn't _not _help, it was little Scorpius Ron and I didn't know, George...he..." a shadow passed over Ron's face at the mention of his brother and I tried to read in his expression what he was feeling but somehow found that I couldn't and that scared me more than anything. _Does he blame me?_

"I know, I heard" he said tonelessly, not meeting my eyes, "I..I didn't think he would do something like that" he shook his head slightly as if trying to deny it and I stepped forwards wanting to comfort him, just wanting to make it better but he looked up sharply then, the anger in his eyes back in full force. "But that doesn't excuse you just running off like that without even letting me know where you were, I had to hear it from Ginny! Did you not even consider how much danger you might have been in, how worried I would be? You just went off without a seconds thought for those you were leaving behind all for bloody Malfoy!"

"Ron, it was his son! How could I have in all good conscience denied him help?" I demanded, becoming instantly defensive and more than a little resentful than instead of just being grateful that I was safe he was attacking me for doing what I thought was right.

"You could have waited! You could have thought things through properly and made sure that you managed to get into contact with me before you left, how do you think I would have felt if you had been really hurt or hadn't even come back and I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye or try to come with you to protect you?!" People were starting to look at us now but I ignored them, all the frustration and worry and uncertainty of the last couple of days leaking out unintentionally.

"I don't need your protection, I am my own person Ron and I don't need you to coddle me, I did think it out properly but in a situation like that there isn't a lot of time to wait around so that you can let everyone know where you're going, surely you can understand that, the only reason Ginny knew was because I needed her to look after Rose."

"But I'm not everyone, I'm your husband! You're supposed to make exceptions for me! You didn't even come to me first when you found out that it was George leading the vigilantes, you went to Harry instead! Don't you think I might have wanted to hear something like that from you?!" he spat

"I went to Harry because he's neutral ground, he has links in the auror department, he can make sure George is looked after and people will listen to him because he's not family not to mention 'the chosen one', I needed to make sure they got George out of there and arrested the rest of them first before I spoke to you. I'll admit maybe I should have been the one to tell you about it after that but forgive me if I'm not exactly thinking straight, I haven't slept in over 40 hours Ron, I'm exhausted and drained and I wasn't exactly up to the emotional mess of telling you your brother was responsible for kidnapping our child's best friend out of some twisted desire for revenge on Death Eaters! Harry was far more capable of talking to you than I was this morning"

"You know what, all I'm hearing is pathetic excuses and I can't take it, I can't even look at you right now, am I really of so little importance to you?"

"Ron..don't.." I shook my head tiredly, if he couldn't even trust that I cared about him, loved him, then what was the point in arguing?

"Never mind" he said bitterly, avoiding my eyes again before stalking off, I stared after him for a moment trying to quell an attack of nausea as I considered how hard it was going to be to make things right again. Suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep and just not wake up until the whole mess that my life had become went away. The considerable part of me that insisted on being logical however kindly pointed out that this wasn't something that would just go away. Rubbing a hand over my tired face I slowly stumbled backwards till my knees hit the sofa and crumpled, lowering myself onto the soft cushions and curling up into a ball with my face pressed up against the material, my eyes shut tight as tears leaked out. It seemed to take forever for blank oblivion to consume me as I fell asleep.

~&~

_If I believed in any gods I would have to say that they hate me,_ I thought morosely as someone shook me awake minutes after I finally managed to drift off, my eyes opened blearily and I winced slightly at the blinding white lights that greeted me immediately bringing on a throbbing headache. I glanced at my watch and realised how much my estimate that I had only been asleep a few minutes had to be revised, it was about midnight, I had slept half the day away.

_Shit._

I bolted upright causing the slightly concerned Mediwitch who had woken me to take a startled step back.

"Are you alright miss?" she asked, I smiled apologetically at her as I felt the faint stirrings of recognition, _was she one of the mediwitches working on Draco's case?_

"Yes fine thanks, you just surprised me is all, is there a problem, Draco..?"

"No nothing like that, don't worry," she smiled warmly, "Scorpius is awake and doing fine, we allowed him into his fathers room for a little while and he was taken away by his mother earlier" the woman pursed her lips slightly at the mention of Scorpius' mother and I wondered what had happened to make her dislike Adele, I couldn't say that I knew Draco's wife well enough to be able to pass judgement but I had bumped into her occasionally and been struck by how cold she could be to both Draco and Scorpius.

"Draco is stable," she continued and I let out a small relieved breath, "He's asleep for now, I just thought you might want to know, especially we don't think he'll be waking up for quite a while so it might be best if you went home and got some proper rest" she smiled again and I could easily see how the woman came to be in her profession, she was just so nice and after everything that had happened including the spat with Ron it felt like being wrapped up in a warm blanket.

"Thank you, I think I will go home then, I'll come back tomorrow to check on Draco." I smiled and silently nodded goodbye to her as I made my way over to one of the fireplaces where I could floo out of there, I felt a vague apprehension that Ron might be at home but I knew realistically that he would have gone back to work, preferring to avoid it all till he had calmed down. As I arrived in the dark empty house I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of regretful guilt and gratitude that I could put off another confrontation just a little while longer.

I though that I would just stumble straight to bed but even though I was still tired I found myself strangely resistant to the idea of sleep so I hesitated in the living room for a little while instead and found myself staring at the photos on the mantelpiece. Memories of my wedding, of time spent with Harry and Ginny, with the rest of the Weasley family and memories of watching Rose grow up all flitted across my mind as I stared at the pictures.

_My marriage with Ron is falling apart, I'm starting to fall for someone else, who is equally married and my brother-in-law has just been arrested for leading a group of vigilantes and kidnapping my daughters best friend among other things that I never thought him capable of. When did my life become a soap-opera?_

Quietly I left the room, wondering for the thousandth time what on earth I was going to do as I found myself walking the familiar and comforting path to Rose's room, I knew she would be at Ginny's but I felt an odd need to be somewhere that didn't just remind me of complicated things. _I need somewhere I feel safe, _I thought as I opened the door only to realise that the house wasn't quite as empty as I thought it to be.

Ginny sat uncomfortably in the chair next to Rose's bed fast asleep with her head on her shoulder and her hand stretched out to hold onto the small hand that just peeked out from under the purple duvet. I smiled as I looked at the two of them, stopping just inside the doorway and openly welcoming the return of strength that seeing Rose gave me, after all if she was okay then life couldn't really be that bad.

I decided in that moment that for Rose I would make sure I patched things up with Ron, that I would really sit him down and talk to him this time to make him understand how smothered he made me feel sometimes so that we could work on making our marriage better. I would just have to hope that my feelings for Draco would go away eventually.

**hehe, silly naive Hermione thinks it will just go away, she has no idea...-insert evil laugh- , anyway moving on, I updated woot! am on half term so I actually have time :) will try and get the next chapter out relatively quickly as well, at least before school starts again at any rate, let me know what you think on this one ~xx~**


	12. Chapter 12

**disclaimer: not mine**

Chapter 12

Over the next few days I managed to keep myself as busy as possible, trying my hardest not to give myself time to think but somehow the thoughts and the doubts always crept back in. Ron hadn't come back home since the day in the hospital, he was probably throwing himself into work just as blindly and violently as I was. George had been detained, an auror came to take my statement and I stressed the fact that George hadn't hurt Scorpio and there was no way of telling who had hurt Draco, I wanted him helped not thrown away in a dank cell in Azkaban.

When I wasn't looking after Rose or babysitting for Ginny I spent my time in my study searching meticulously on every book on Wizarding Law that might be useful to the person who would eventually be defending George at his hearing. I focused on clauses about ill mental health, knowing that if I could only get the members of the Wizengamot to believe that George wasn't really a threat, he was just suffering from the after-effects of the war and needed proper help dealing with that, then the risk of a harsh punishment would be greatly reduced.

Harry came and helped me sometimes and kept me updated on how George was being treated whilst being held in a cell at the Ministry, what the general attitude was towards him there and who was or wasn't sympathetic. The Weasleys largely spent their time either visiting George to keep him company or gathering together at the Burrow to offer each other support, apparently Ron visited there at least so I knew he was okay, I kept away from fear of intruding and from fear that I would only serve as a reminder of George's actions.

I occasionally went to the hospital to check in with the Healers on Draco's status but I managed to avoid seeing him though I was finding it increasingly hard to come up with excuses as to why I couldn't stay long enough to just pop into his room for a few minutes to say 'hi' whenever I was offered the chance. He was apparently fine and would be released soon and that was all I needed to know, if I was going to make things work with Ron then I needed to distance myself from Draco, I knew that, _so why did I constantly miss talking to him?_

It was only my stubbornness that kept me from just completely giving in to temptation just to go in and see with my own eyes that he was healthy and safe, the last time I had seen him he had been so chillingly pale and covered with blood and no matter how many times I tried to reassure myself with the updates I was getting from the Healers and Mediwitches it was still that image that was plastered behind my eyelids. It was that and the image of Ron walking away from me and of George's features slowly bleeding through when the polyjuice wore off in that basement that kept me up at night.

I found myself desperately trying to hold on to my sanity and with all of that buzzing through my head, being able to immerse myself in old tomes on law was a huge relief though I didn't give myself enough time to admit that it was an escape from my problems. I was soon able to discover that there was a ward in St Mungo's specifically for unstable criminals and I asked about it on one of my short trips there to check up on Draco.

Apparently it wasn't completely dissimilar to the standard mental ward where I remembered being dragged to by the obliviated Lockhart all those years ago but of course there were much stricter security measures and each patient had a small room to themselves that were kept locked at all times. Part of me regretted that George would be labelled as mentally unstable as well as a criminal and that he would be locked away in the hospital for merlin only knew how long but I knew it would be so much better than having him locked away in Azkaban instead.

It was really all I could do for him.

Harry relayed my plans to Ginny and the Weasleys seemed to acquiesce to my plans which reassured me that I was doing the right thing at least. I was still searching for someone professional to look at his case, apparently wizards didn't use lawyers but there were people to go to in order to organise a defense and sort out the rest of the legal work that a case always brought with it when the people surrounding the accused weren't able to. Harry insisted that I myself was able to but I felt that not making use of a professional with more experience in these matters might damage George's case. I was also worried that the Wizengamot wouldn't accept me as the one helping to defend George given my involvement in the events of the case as a witness.

I managed to compile a list of contacts over a couple of days who I thought might be of help to the case but I was reluctant to choose someone until I was sure they were the best. It was when I was mulling over this list about a week after the incident that I heard the soft chime of the charm that alerted me when someone floo-called through the living room fire. I had blocked off access to the fireplace in my study specifically because it was where I came when I _didn't _want to be pestered and given that Rose was with Ginny for the day I had thought I would be able to work solidly and interrupted for a while. With a sigh and a quick rake of my fingers through my hair I got up and went to see who it was, expecting that it might be a ministry worker or maybe someone from the hospital, they seemed to be the only people who wanted to speak to me these days. Well, no, that's a lie, I still had Harry and Ginny there for me and I wasn't about to take them for granted when they were my best friends outside of Ron.

It was quite a surprise to walk into the room and find that it was Draco's wife waiting to speak to me with a distinct air of polite boredom, I only had enough time for a puzzled expression to find its way onto my face before she started speaking in her usual clipped tones.

"Draco wishes to speak with you, something about the case."

"Oh, thank you for letting me know" I smiled hesitantly at her, ignoring the sudden jolt in my stomach as I wondered what Draco wanted to say and how angry he might be at George and even at me for defending George. She stared at me silently for a few moments and my discomfort increased dramatically along with a faint sense of annoyance as I realised she was looking at me like I was the dirt on the bottom of her shoe, _a mudblood._

"Yes?" I said pointedly, not bothering to disguise the terseness in my voice, her pale lips lifted slightly at the corner in a smirk.

"I hope George Weasley enjoys rotting in prison," a sound of angry protest made its way out of my throat and my fists clenched but she was gone before I could say anything. Fury rolled through me for a moment clouding my mind like an all consuming poison and it was one of the few times in my life when I really _really _wanted to hit someone.

It wasn't until I had to forcibly remind myself that she was angry at George because it was her son he had hurt and she wasn't exactly close enough to the family to understand the effect that the war had had on George, the effect that losing his twin had had, that I was able to take some deep breaths. I then of course remembered that she had in fact delivered a message and with a small jolt of movement I straightened out my clothes a bit, hoping that I didn't look too much of a mess and then scolding myself for worrying about my appearance in front of Draco when I was supposed to be forgetting about him.

Feeling utterly stressed, tired and exasperated with myself I went to floo to St Mungo's, arriving there a minute later amidst green flames trying to force back the urge to sneeze that never seemed to go away however many times I used the floo network. I managed to make quick work of locating Draco's room considering that I hadn't even been in there once during his stay, the thought made me wince in guilt but I reminded myself that I had been putting my marriage first.

Trying to swallow down the sudden wave of apprehension that threatened to engulf me I opened the door swiftly as if to counteract any chance of hesitancy. My eyes landed immediately on Draco's form lying in the starch white hospital bed, the image making my chest tighten with some inexplicable emotion, his gaze caught mine and held it for a moment and I felt oddly as if I were looking for something, anything until my thoughts were abruptly broken off by the small sound of someone clearing their throat. Someone who was distinctly _not _Draco.

**yes, I know I'm completely evil with the cliffhangers hehe but I'll make it up to you I swear! :) I'll write an extra long chapter next and I'm gonna step up the tension between Hermione and Draco a couple notches which is just so much fun cause I love making them squirm ;) oh and reviews make me smile..hint hint :P ~xx~**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I blinked, breaking myself out of my momentary stupor and glanced to the side where a vaguely familiar dark-skinned man sat with an amused smile on his face.

"Hermione, this is Blaise" Draco said nodding to his friend as recognition dawned on me, I smiled warmly at Blaise, trying to hide the embarrassment that had welled up inside me and wondering vaguely why he was here if Draco had wanted to speak with me. Not that I had any desire whatsoever to be alone with Draco when I had yet to get him out of my head, my heart thumped just that bit faster merely because I was in the same room as him and knowing that made guilt gnaw at me.

Trying to dispel this new wave of confusing thoughts I sent Draco a questioning glance, "What-?"

"Blaise is one of the best legal advisers around, he's going to help," I blinked uncomprehendingly and wouldn't have been entirely surprised if my mouth had fallen open.

"Help?" A soft sound of almost affectionate mirth made its way past Draco's lips and I blinked again at the warm feeling that it created in me, _I really have to get a hold of myself. _

"Yes, help, with George's case, I imagine you need it, you've probably been running yourself ragged trying to take care of everything yourself and Harry told me you haven't found a legal aid yet so I dragged Blaise off of his lazy ass to actually do some work" Blaise made an indignant sound of protest whilst Draco grinned cheekily at him, I almost found myself wanting to smile with them at the show of ease and friendship that passed between them. I was held back though by the thoughts tugging at my mind, _the sabbatical explains why I haven't come across Blaise's name before while I was looking for legal advice but-_

"Why? You're helping to save George when he, after he..I don't understand" I stared at Draco in confusion, he looked back, holding my gaze again till everything but his answer seemed to phase out of importance.

"He can't be held fully responsible for his actions, I understand better than you think the kind of effect that the war had on people, just because I was on a different side to you doesn't mean I didn't see the pain that people like my father and his supposed friends caused. I also know better than I think any of the Weasleys the kind of effect being in Azkaban can have on a person having watched my father rot away in there and having spent six months in there myself. I'm not about to wish that on someone who has already suffered as much as George has, although I'll admit that I'm angry, livid in fact," he chuckled dryly, "I prefer not to punish those who do not deserve it, the lackeys on the other hand were fully cognisant of their actions and I intend to make sure they are made to realise the consequences."

"Oh" I didn't quite know what to say to that, gratitude and admiration and respect all welled up inside me, every time I tried to pull away from him he would do something that just drew me right back in. Trying to ignore my feelings I did what I always did when wanted to avoid something, focused on straightforward business and study. "Right, well, thank you, both of you. Blaise how much do you know so far about the case?"

"I've followed some of the activities of the group in the Prophet of course and I've got Draco's account, if you could give me an account as well please and I will need to speak to George himself at some point. I haven't gotten in contact with the Aurors on the case yet as I was waiting for the confrmation from you that I would be working on the case but if you're happy with the arrangement then I can do that now and then I'll have a look at the notes you have undoubtedly already begun compiling." he said with an easy smile and I found myself smiling back, glad to finally have someone to work with.

"Yes, that's absolutely fine with me, it'll be nice having someone who actually knows what they're doing," I chuckled self-deprecatingly, "if you want to talk to the aurors though I suggest you ask for Timmons, he's by far the most helpful and the most sympathetic and has been more than happy to answer any questions I've had so far."

"Timmons, right, got it. I'll go do that now then and leave you to catch up with Draco for a bit." A feeling that was far too akin to panic for my liking flooded through my veins as I took in his words and watched him start to get up out of his chair.

"Oh, uh, you don't have do that, I mean I'll come back another time or something, you probably want to catch up if you've been out of the country after all and I wouldn't want to interrupt." I said trying to force a smile whilst trying to hide the fact that I was shuffling backwards slightly.

"Don't worry, I've already had my fill of this bastard, been with him all day and I don't think you've had a chance to catch with him yourself so I rather think that I'm the one intruding, don't you?" Blaise replied and before I had a chance to protest he was out of his seat, across the room and flashing me an amused half-smirk as he closed the door on the two of us.

_Damn Slytherins, _I though as I stared at the floor and tried to think of a way out of this.

"You've been avoiding me" he stated bluntly and I felt heat rise in my cheeks as my eyes flickered up to meet his cool ones, guilt made my gut churn again, "Why?" I opened my mouth to make some excuse about being busy with other stuff and how the idea that I'd purposely been avoiding him was of course completely ridiculous but he cut me off, "Don't make excuses, I know you have what I want to know is why? Do you blame me for George, is that it?"

"What?! No, of course not! It's nothing like that, nothings your fault, I know that. Nothings anyones fault really its just life being all screwed up as usual."

"Well if its not that, what?" he demanded, his gaze staying fixed on my face even as my own eyes slid to the side to stare intently at a small mark on the bedside cabinet.

"I just..."

"Hermione? I thought you could talk to me?" he asked softly

"I can..I could," I lifted my eyes to meet his finally and the compassion I saw made the dull ache of confusion and regret and guilt in my chest that I had been trying to ignore for what felt like years throbbed sharply, "but I can't talk to you about this because, Draco, I'm _married_ and I'm happy but you make me so confused and this just isn't something I can do, I love _Ron._"

"Oh, right." his eyes had widened and I briefly reflected that if he wasn't a Malfoy he would probably be flushing in embarrassment right about now, just as I was. _Crap, what the hell did I just say that for?! Shit, shit, shit..I have to get out of here, I can't breathe!_

"I have to go." I mumbled as I practically fled for the door,

"Wait, Hermione.." I didn't hear the rest of what he might have said, instead I just ran for it, the sudden urge to just run as fast and as far as I could as if I could outrun all of my problems that way overwhelmed as I dodged past hospital employees and visitors alike to get to the entrance. I didn't want to go home, I just needed to breathe, to forget about Ron and Draco and George and the Weasleys. I just needed to forget.

My lungs burned as I broke out into the middle of the empty London street and I looked left and right trying to decide which way to go, I eventually started walking to my left, slowly now as if any energy I had had been drained away from me leaving me feeling achingly hollow and numb as I shuffled along. I barely registered the tears that dripped down my face, _I've messed everything up, I'm such a screw-up that all I've done is push everyone away, Rons gone and I don't even know if he'll bother coming back and Draco will probably never be able to look me in the eyes again. Hell I'll probably never be able to look him in the eyes again. Oh, and the Weasley's all hate me of course, I won't have anyone left at this rate, just little Rose and Merlin knows that I don't really deserve her either, she'll blame me for hurting her father and she'll have every right to. _

I glanced morosely into an empty shop window and scrutinised my tear-stained features, _where did I go? I used to be so strong, I know part of it was always a front, I always strived so hard to be accepted and I always had some determination left even when I was so tired all I wanted was to lie down and never get up again._

_Where did I go?_

A strange burning anger rose up in me, _I refuse to be this pathetic crying little weakling, somehow I'll just have to fix everything, I'm the cleverest witch of the age dammit and my brain ought to be good for something for once other than academics. _

**Sorry this is late out, I was planning on finishing it earlier and I even got it halfway done but I guess I just hit a slump, which I'm still not really out of to be honest, do ever get the feeling you're running out of things to hold onto? Anyway I'm being silly and morose, I'll try and get the next chapter out reasonably quickly, hope you enjoyed this one :)**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I walked blindly around the streets of London for hours, blissfully unaware of anything but my racing thoughts as I tried to piece together a plan for sorting my life out, tried to reach some sort of clarity. I knew first of all that I couldn't just give up on my marriage for the sake of whatever it was exactly that I felt for Draco, especially when I considered what sort of effect that would have on Rose. I would simply have to go to Ron and glue him down to a chair with a sticking charm if I had to to get him to talk to me, _listen _to me.

As for Draco..

Well I had been doing a pretty damn good job of avoiding him before and I could sure as hell do it again until I felt secure enough both in myself and in my marriage to be able to face him without crumbling. Not that I particularly wanted to face him then either, in fact I didn't know if I would ever be able to look him in the eyes again after what I had said, you could send a dozen dark wizards against me and I could still manage to keep a clear head as I duelled but a little humiliation and I was a mess.

I just hoped he wouldn't want to confront me once he got out of St. Mungo's, which according to his Healers would be within the next few days, if my luck holds out then he will want to avoid me as much as I want to avoid him. Then we can just drift apart, becoming mere acquaintances, only seeing each other when our children socialised and maybe I can forget that I ever felt anything for him and live out my life with Ron and Rose and any other children that we might have. As I imagined this future I had to wonder if that was really what I hoped for but the decision was already made and I reassured myself that this path would hurt the least number of people and it would only hurt me for a little while, until whatever was drawing me to Draco faded away.

Realising that it had started getting dark I glanced at my watch only to curse and quickly duck into an alley out of the sight of prying muggle eyes in order to apparate out, it was past the time when I was supposed to pick Rose up from Ginny's already. When I arrived in Ginny's living room she was already there with Rose in her lap, watching the television, they glanced up immediately at the sound of my arrival and Rose leaped up to wrap her little arms around my waist.

"You're late," she pouted and I smiled at the cute expression,

"I know hun, I'm sorry I lost track of time but I'm here now and what do you say to us going out to that restaurant you love just down the street, I haven't got nearly as much work now so I can spend more time with my favourite little girl." My smile grew into a grin as I watched her face light up with excitement even as part of me felt bad for not paying her enough attention over the last few days as I worked on George's case.

"Less work? Why? What's happened with the case?" Ginny asked, drawing my gaze over to her as she stood up from the sofa,

"I've finally found someone to help out or rather someone found him for me," Ginny raised a questioning eyebrow and I desperately wiggled my toes in the hopes that I wouldn't blush like some lovesick teenager, "Its one of Draco's old friends, Blaise Zabini, do you remember him?"

"Vaguely, wasn't he a bit of a prat?" she smiled with soft amusement and I found myself smiling back, shared memories of our dealings with the Slytherins back in Hogwarts flashing between us.

"Yes, he was a bit," I chuckled "but apparently he's a professional prat now and one who's going to help us thank goodness because I'm sure I don't know nearly enough about the Wizarding legal system having buried myself more in the history of wizarding society over the past few years because of all my research on elementals."

"Hermione you were always perfectly capable but I'm glad Zabini is helping if it gives you a bit more time to yourself, its not fair on you to take it all upon yourself."

"Thanks Gin but you know why I had to do it"

"Mione, we don't blame you, you have to stop thinking that, it was no-ones fault. To be honest if anyone should be feeling guilty it should be us, at least I know I do, if we hadn't been so blind to how bad things had gotten then you would never have been in danger and neither would Scorpius. I guess we all just wanted so badly to believe that George was better, that he was happier but he should have been sent to a Mind Healer years ago." Seeing that she was getting upset I gently extricated myself from Rose who was looking up at us with sad but curious eyes and went over to Ginny to envelop her in a hug.

Being an only child I had always looked on Ginny as a sister and we had only grown closer in the aftermath of the war so I could automatically see how much her brothers state had shaken her and I realised that my own guilt over everything, Draco included, had led me to hide myself away from those who cared about me the most and those who needed my support now more than ever. Feeling more at peace with myself than I had in a while I stayed there with Ginny for a few hours longer, James and Albus came in from the garden shortly after and proceeded to talk a mile a minute over the top of each other as they filled me in on all the little occurrences in their lives that I had missed.

There was a nagging feeling at the pit of my stomach that seemed to rebel against the idea of me letting go of my friendship with Draco as I thought of how it would have been nice to have him and Scorpius here too but I was okay being there without them so that would have to be enough.

In the end I invited everyone out to the restaurant Rose liked, a little place called 'Nimue's Lair' that was hidden from muggles by the simple charm that was also used by the Leaky Cauldron to make it visible to only witches and wizards. I often went there to treat Rose as it was one of the more child friendly restaurants around and had the added benefit of a shield to dampen the effects of any sudden bursts of accidental magic that Rose and James were already showing signs of.

Later that night when Rose was cuurled up on Ginny's sofa ready to be taken home and the boys were in bed I went and sat with Ginny in the kitchen to have a cup of tea before heading off, I had the distinct impression that she wanted to talk to me about something and though I didn't feel quite ready to talk about Ron I knew avoiding the issue wasn't going to work.

"Hermione.." she began and I looked up both anxious and strangely relieved to have my suspicions confirmed, "What's going on with you? I know Ron's still being his usual prattish self and not talking to you but it's not like you to be avoiding him as well. Are you..do you not love him anymore?" I opened my mouth to deny it even as I wondered myself but she cut me off, "I won't mind if you don't, right now I'm _your_friend not his sister, I just don't want either of you to be unhappy and I know that you've not been entirely happy for a while now." I smiled softly at the concern in her voice and tried to organise my thoughts into something coherent enough to communicate.

"You're right, I haven't been happy, he hasn't been around much and we never seemed to talk things out anymore, he just came home and expected his dinner and grumbled about office politics or go on about quidditch when he knows that I'm really not that interested in the sport or any sport at all. When he did ask me about my own work it was always as an afterthought and I just wonder if we ever really had anything in common other than our friendship with you and Harry and our experiences during the war, if we don't have any mutual interests what are we supposed to talk about without one or other of us being bored?"

"You were always opposites Hermione, you know that, maybe you just need to try and remember what attracted you to him in the first place, but I can see how living that life would have made you feel trapped, heres the big question though, are you willing to work through it?" I sighed, absentmindedly rubbing at my temples as I felt a headache begin to form.

"I'm not sure, I want to make it work, I really do but what if that's not enough? What if I resolve things with him now but we just slip back into our old patterns and nothing really changes?"

"I don't know Mione but I know how much you two care about each other and it either works out or it doesn't but if you've tried your hardest to make it work then you won't have anything to reproach yourself with." I nodded seeing the sense in her words as she gazed at me silently for a few moments, "What about Draco?" my head jerked up at the question my brain already whirring around as I tried to discern how much she might know.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not blind, I know you've developed.._feelings_..for him, you forget how well I know you and I was there a lot of the time watching you two as you chatted, you certainly have mutual interests with him."

"I.." I sighed in defeat, a small wry smile working its way onto my face as I realised Ginny was the last person I could ever fool, "I have got feelings for him I'll admit but I can ignore them, I just need to stay away from him for a while, work on my marriage till it goes away and I can be happy with Ron again." I looked up to meet Ginny's eyes, grateful to see only calm understanding there, "You don't deplore my choice?" I asked with faint amusement and only a slight hint of worry that I was sure she picked up on anyway.

"No, his reformation seems genuine enough, the war seemed to teach him just as much as it taught us though in different ways of course and I can trust him now to a certain extent though I agree that maybe you should stay away from him for a while, for Rose's sake if not for Ron's you should give your marriage another chance." I nodded my agreement and we stayed there for a little while longer finishing our drinks and talking about small inconsequential things comfortably.

It wasn't long after that I hugged her goodbye and scooped up Rose from the sofa to floo back home with her, my brain finally quieted slightly by my conversation with Ginny and the sense of knowing what to do next. It was only as I was climbing into bed, warming the mattress with a quick charm so my feet didn't freeze, that I heard the tap of an owls beak on my window.

**For a chapter where not much happened that was kinda long lol, anyway sorry for the wait and sorry for the quality cause I really don't think this chapter was very good but I'm going to try and get the next one out reasonably quickly and both Ron and Draco are going to be in that (i think) so there should be more going on. Other than that, happy easter if you celebrate it (I'm only in it for the chocolate but don't tell anyone ;D ) and reviews make me smile! ~xx~**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Grumbling under my breath for having to get up after I had just got comfortable in bed I swung my bare feet onto the cold floor and shuffled over to the window to let the owl in. I stepped back out of its way as it swooped in, dropping a small letter on the bed and then flying over to the perch we kept in the corner evidently settling in to wait for a response.

I glanced at the front seeing that only my first name was written on the heavy parchment which ruled out the possibility that it had come from work or the ministry, leaving only a few possibilities. I tore open the blank seal and unfolded the letter, immediately scanning to the bottom to look for the signature as I always did but with an added bite of curiosity this time only to find that it was from Blaise.

I blinked in surprise that he seemed to have gotten things organised so quickly and sank back onto the bed with my legs folded under me as I went back to the beginning of the letter and started reading. It wasn't overly long, simply informing me that he had spoken with the Aurors and there was certainly a degree of sympathy from them though they remained professional, he had received copies of the case files on all of the wizards and witches who were captured by George and his group from Timmons along with George's statement and the statements of the others who had been captured. In all it seemed that George worked more in the background, letting his followers do as they pleased with their victims once he had assured their capture which worked hugely in favour of the case.

It still unnerved me when I thought about those victims and what they had gone through, no matter what crimes they had committed in the past, it was wrong for them to have been tortured as the Prophet had reported till their minds broke. I had briefly looked into their fates when I had begun working on George's case and though the Prophet had definitely made some exaggerations as it tended to, there were still many who would need to stay in the mental ward of St Mungo's for a large period of time before being able to face the outside world again.

This was obviously another consideration that needed to be taken into account and I had debated how to deal with it as it would obviously be both detrimental to George _and _the victims if they were to come into contact during their stay at St Mungo's but as I scanned down Blaise's letter I realised that he had solved that problem already, detailing how he would organise for George to stay in another branch of St Mungo's that was nestled somewhere in Cornwall.

In all it seemed as though if the case were argued properly there was a high chance that we would win, I sighed with relief at the thought, thanking Blaise in my mind and with a twist of my stomach also thanking Draco for asking Blaise to help in the first place. My gaze flickered to the bottom of the letter then where Blaise mentioned that he had visited George for a few minutes himself and I felt the familiar weight of worry when I thought about him alone in his cell only for it to be replaced with a sense of unease when the final few words informed me that George asked to be able to speak to me.

I stared at the letter for a few moments as I wondered why George would want to speak to me but I slowly felt my eyelids getting heavier and I realised that the mental and physical exhaustion of the day was slowly catching up to me. Setting the parchment down on the bedside I slid back under the duvet and with my thoughts still swirling I felt myself drifting off into the blissful oblivion of sleep.

The next day the first thing I woke to was Rose's smiling face, I smiled back as I blinked away the last tendrils of lethargy that clung to my mind and sat up to ruffle her hair still slightly mussed from sleep.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked

"Daddy's home!" she said with a grin, tugging on my hand in a silent command of '_hurry up and get out of bed so you can come see him' _but I barely registered it as a strange sensation of ice being dumped into my veins flooded through me. _He's here..what does that mean? Why is he suddenly coming back now?_

With nervous, slightly jerky movements I shifted from my bed, the blankets bundling at my feet as I kicked them off and walked over to my wardrobe silently, Rose stayed on the bed, bouncing shallowly on the springy mattress either from excitement at her dad being home or nervousness from my reaction I wasn't quite sure. I stared at my clothes for a moment and realised that there wasn't much point in getting dressed yet, why did I feel like I needed to look presentable?

Rose hopped off the bed just as I turned around, a little frown of worry marring her beautiful little face and I found myself wondering how exactly she saw all of this, did she worry that we would split up like I did sometimes?

"Are you coming mummy?" she asked.

"Yes, of course sweetheart, lead the way!" I smile at her reassuringly, thinking that if I can at least try and convince her that everything's going to be okay then maybe I can convince myself as well. Her small hand slips easily into mine as she pulls me out of the bedroom and through into the kitchen where Ron is sitting calmly at the breakfast table nursing a small cup of tea between his hands.

He lifted his head his eyes to meet mine as Rose ran over to jump on his lap and I was almost startled by the uncertainty I saw reflected there that mirrored my own.

"Why don't you go play in the other room Rose? I want to talk to your mum for a bit, a catch-up yeah?" he smiled down at our daughter and if I wasn't so nervous of what would happen once Rose was gone I would have felt some relief at the comfortingly familiar interaction between father and daughter.

She disappeared without much fuss, understanding enough to know Ron was serious and Ron himself turned back to look at me allowing silence to stretch between us for a few moments.

"You're back" I commented quietly, finally breaking under the pressure of his muteness, it just wasn't like him to be the one not talking.

"Yeah, I guess I am. The business trips over, I figured I couldn't really avoid this any longer," he replied with a wry smile, making me smile nervously back at him.

"No, I suppose not."

"I'm sorry..for shouting at you I mean, especially just after-everything. I should have spoken to you reasonably later on when you weren't so tired or stressed, I'm not a kid anymore, it was stupid of me but-I was angry, you can understand that I was angry can't you?"

"I know, you had every right to be," I sank down into the chair opposite him and whilst I still felt a bit scared of what the result of this conversation would be, I was so glad it was finally happening. It was waiting for it that had almost broken me down. "I should have said something, got in contact with you somehow to let you know where I was going or at least sent you a patronus at some point to let you know I was okay. I just, it just all happened so quickly and all I could think of was Scorpius and how I would feel if it were Rose," I said, trying to explain myself.

"I get that, I guess we were both a bit stupid weren't we?" he chuckled and the tense atmosphere suddenly lightened till I found myself smiling at him feeling for the first time in a while that everything might actually work out for me and for us. "Thanks, by the way, for all the work you did for George, Ginny told me."

"Of course, I couldn't not really, we've got Blaise Zabini helping now, he's pretty sure the case will be successful."

"That's good then," he looked down at his now cold cup of tea with a shadowed expression and I struggled for a moment to try and find the words to ask him how he was coping with it, if he was okay but he cut me off before I had the chance. "This probably isn't the best time to be bringing this up but we never did get a chance to discuss trying for another kid did we?"

"What?" I looked at him unsteadily, not sure that I really just heard him say that. _How could he bring that up now of all times?_

"We said we would talk about it when I got back, remember?" _No, you said we would._

"Uh, yeah, I guess we did but maybe we should leave it for a bit? Until everything's more stable, I'm not sure this is the best time to be thinking about kids to be honest."

"Why not? I know it will make mum happy and she needs a bit of happiness at the moment, besides we always said we would have more kids right? We probably shouldn't leave it much longer and it will give Rose a little brother or sister as company."

"Us having more kids isn't going to make everything alright Ron and we never agreed on whether we wanted more kids or not, we didn't really talk about it, you just assumed." I pointed out, wary of another argument but unwilling to be pressured into having another child when I was happy just having Rose.

"What do you mean, of course you want more kids, we made plans didn't we, we were going to have at least three."

"At least three?! Ron I never agreed to that, I don't want more kids, I probably should have said something sooner but every time I tried to explain that I was happy with us the way we are, just you, me and Rose, you wouldn't listen to me."

"Mione, where's this coming from, why are you suddenly changing your mind? You never tried to tell me you didn't want kids."

"Yes, I did, is it really that important to you to have a lot of kids?"

"Well, yes, I want a big family Mione, I made that clear from the beginning, its your own fault for not saying anything before now!" The conversation was rapidly deteriorating into an argument and I could feel the frustration bubbling beneath my skin, ready to burst through with spiteful words and I could tell Ron was in a similar state by the pinkness of his ears.

"I did say something! You're the one who wouldn't listen to me!"

"Hermione-" his expression was torn between affronted and furious just as he was cut off by the jangle of the charm that announced someone had just flooed through in the living room. Ron who had half gotten out of his seat sank back into it as I silently got up and left the room to see who was there.

When I opened the door I could see Rose talking to Blaise's head in the fireplace, she was smiling happily but when she turned around to see me she looked sad and somewhat nervous. I knew she had probably heard Ron and I arguing and I wished that she didn't have to listen to the two people she loved most shouting at each other.

"Hi Blaise, what can I do for you?" I said as I kneeled down by the fireplace scooping Rose up onto my lap in a comforting gesture, I didn't feel that George's trial was something that needed to be hidden from her, she knew what was going on even if she didn't really understand all of it.

"I went ahead and scheduled for you to see George if that's alright with you?"

"Yes, of course, when for?"

"The day after tomorrow, 2 o'clock,"

"Okay, thanks and thanks for all the work you've done so far as well, it's taken a huge weight off my shoulders," I smiled at him gratefully and he smiled back.

"No problem, oh and there's one other thing," he hesitated for a moment and I wondered if it was something bad,

"Yes?"

"Draco asked me to pass this note on to you," his hand appeared in the flames with a piece of parchment clutched in it, he passed it to me and with a small goodbye was gone leaving me staring at the letter in my hand addressed to me in Draco's cursive writing.

**I was supposed to get this out yesterday but I got banned from the computer :S ah well, its done now plus to make up for the fact that I said it would be reasonably quick and it turned out not-so-quick, I made it extra long :D hope you like it and I managed to sort of squeeze Draco in there at the end :P please review :) ~xx~**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I stared at the letter in my hand as Rose shifted slightly on my lap in order to get a better look at it herself, I couldn't even imagine what Draco might have said though whispers of fear at the back of my mind told me it would speak only of disgust. Of never wanting to see me ever again. This was definitely something I couldn't open in front of anyone else.

I snapped my gaze away from it and shoved it in my back pocket with brisk movements as my other hand curled around Rose's waist in order to haul her up with me as I stood up.

"Why is Scorpio's dad writing to you mummy?" she enquired innocently

"It's probably just something to do with Uncle George's case darling, I'll read it later,"

"Will Uncle George be okay?" I looked down at her fondly for a moment, absently and a little regretfully wondering how much George was going to be able to be in her life from now on even if he was in hospital rather than prison.

"I'm not sure but we've got to hope for the best, yeah? We're all doing our best to make sure he's okay,"

"I want to do something to!" I almost chuckled at the set expression of stubbornness on her face but I realised she might take it the wrong way so I refrained, thinking instead how I could possibly come up with anything to make her feel like she was helping.

"I tell you what, if I'm going to be seeing him soon then why don't we make up a little food parcel for him, we could do some baking or something, how about that?"

"Can we do brownies?"

"Of course." I looked up then wrapping my larger hand around Rose's small one with the intention of pulling her over to the sofa for her to watch cartoons as I went and rooted out some recipe books but I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of Ron leaning against the doorway looking at the two of us with a conflicted expression. He met my gaze for a moment, incomprehension flickering in his eyes as if to say _if you're so good with Rose why is it so hard for you to want another child? _I could feel stubbornness flaring inside me and presumably he saw it too because he dropped his gaze to Rose a moment later.

"What are you up to then you little rascal?" he asked her with a teasing smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling with affection as he bent down so as to be on her level.

"We're going to bake brownies for Uncle George," she grinned, tugging me forwards so she could go and stand by Ron without letting go of me as if trying not to show a preference or trying to pull us together, sometimes she seemed so much older than her years and I knew she was intelligent enough to understand that Ron and I were having problems.

"I'm sure he's going to love them, why don't you go and grab the recipe for it and I'll make sure that we've got all the ingredients we need?"

"Okay," she smiled, her hand slipping gently out of mine as she went past Ron towards the kitchen, the latter letting his hand rest briefly on the crown of her head. He stared after her for a moment whilst standing up from his previous position before looking at me making me have to resist squirming under his scrutiny.

"Can we just leave this for a while Ron? We'll talk it out some other time, I've just got too much on my mind at the moment," I pleaded aware that I was somewhat delaying the inevitable but knowing also that what I said was true, I wasn't ready to deal with it yet.

"Alright," he said quietly and I shot him a small look of gratitude for letting it drop so easily, maybe he would listen to me more now, "We should go help Rose sort out those Brownies."

"Yes, of course, we should get some other stuff for George too I think,"

"Yeah, mum's been taking some stuff as far as I know but she's not always allowed to bring much so the more the better I reckon, I'll check in with mum now actually and let her know you're going. What day did Blaise say?" I mused briefly about how easy it was for us to settle back into familiar patterns of conversation, pretending nothing had happened, that we hadn't just had a huge argument. After all pretending was so much easier.

"Day after tomorrow, 2 in the afternoon, I'll probably go a bit early to talk to Timmons about the case though, even with Blaise's help I want to t up to date on everything."

"Okay, I'll head off then," his eyes shifted to the side for a moment as he started to edge past me and awkward tension hung between us, "it's probably best if we give each other some space anyway," he concluded still not quite able to meet my eyes as he brushed past and over to the fireplace to pick up a handful of floo powder. It only took a few seconds and a flash of green flames for him to be gone and me to be left feeling like my stomach was filled with lead.

Taking a deep breath I struggled to swallow down my anxiety and focus on enjoying an afternoon with my daughter.

It wasn't long before I was walking down the halls of the Ministry of Magic, heading for the Auror department in search for Timmons with a package of food and Rose's brownies magically shrunk to fit in my pocket. It was really quite amazing how worry seemed to make time go twice as fast as normal and goodness knows I had done little but worry over the past few days.

Things had been tense between Ron and I, neither of us daring to mention the elephant in the room opting instead to pretend we were as happily married as ever, being painfully considerate of each other and avoiding the topic of children like the plague. In fact aside from pleasantries we had barely said a thing to each other at all and I could only watch as my marriage disintegrated, too afraid to confront the problem when it had only seemed to make things worse last time.

Feeling myself slipping into the morbid thoughts that had haunted me so much over the past couple of days I tried to shake myself free of them and focus on the task at hand just as I spotted Timmons talking to a fellow Auror. I walked over and politely waited whilst he finished his conversation, shifting into his eye line and clearing my throat softly in order to make my presence known.

He smiled when he saw me and swiftly concluded his conversation in favour of greeting me, I smiled back as he hugged me and kissed my cheek, he was one of the most affectionate Aurors I had ever known but I felt comfortable enough given that he wasn't exactly interested in women.

"How's things? Anything you want me to help you with?" he asked politely, still smiling

"I just came to see George, I brought him some food if that's alright?"

"Yes, of course, Mrs Weasley brings stuff all the time, its no trouble really, the guards will check it for any charms or portkeys or such that might help him escape obviously but that's all."

"Good, any new information on the case?"

"Not really, he'll be tried by the Wizengamot in courtroom 9 as you know and most people seem pretty sympathetic, you might want to know though that the trials of some of the others in his group have already taken place and almost all of them have been sent to Azkaban for various periods of time proportional to their crimes. Only one has been sent to the mental ward of St Mungo's."

"Will that affect George's trial, are they less likely to vote that he wasn't fully conscious of his actions if they haven't been?"

"It should be alright because obviously the trauma George has been through and the character witnesses that we are making use of to show his deterioration should prove your argument well enough but I'm just warning you in case the opposing council bring it up. Blaise is good you know, very efficient, quite a legal mind you've got helping you out." He grinned and I smiled slyly back as suspicions formed in my mind but I left them quiet.

"Yes, he's definitely helpful, anyway thanks for the information, I best get going given I'm booked in for 2, I'll see you later maybe."

"Love to, bye then." I waved him goodbye and set off further into the depths of the ministry on my way to the cells, the smile that had formed on my face from chatting to Timmons seemed to drip from my face as I thought again about what George could want to say to me. _Maybe he blames me?_

Fighting off a shiver as I recalled the night he had been captured I stepped up to the guards, simultaneously handing them the food package I had brought and my wand for inspection. They soon waved me through with curt nods and I could hear my footsteps echoing as I made my way down the corridor, the 5th cell on the right they had said, I could see it up ahead and suddenly my heartbeat sounded just as loud as my footsteps.

I hesitated in front of the door for a moment, locating the small charm by the side of it which would turn the wall between George and myself transparent and allow us to hear each other. I steeled myself however and quickly activated the charm before I could make up an excuse to back out of the meeting, coming face to face with George for the first time since that night.

He was sat huddled on a small bed on the left side of the room, there was a toilet and sink in the corner furthest away from the wall I was looking through, the ministry had obviously made attempts to make the place look more habitable with cream white walls and white bed covers but it was still a cell at the end of the day and it looked dismal. I was almost choked with a sense of guilt as I looked at his surroundings before finally looking back at him only to find that he had raised his head and was now staring directly at me as if he could read all my thoughts simply by staring at my face.

"Hermione," his voice was strangely normal, the same as every other time I had seen him amongst his family at the Burrow, I had half expected it to be cracked and raspy as if from disuse but as I looked at him closely I realised that in fact even the way he looked was much the same as ever, or at least how he had been since Fred's death.

"George," I nodded at him, smiling slightly, "Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, food's not great but I've got mum coming almost daily with her stuff," he joked, getting up from the bed now to wonder over and stand in front of me.

"That reminds me, I brought you something myself, Ron helped and Rose did. She baked you her special brownies."

"Brilliant, thanks" he grinned, "There's a slot thing in the door you can pass them through."

"Here," I said handing them through to him, once he had taken them and placed them down on a small table by the side of the bed there were a few seconds of awkward silence as I wondered whether it would be polite to simply ask him what it was he wanted to talk to me about without seeming as though I wanted to get this over and done with, it was George who broke it though.

"I wanted to say something Mione, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for dragging you into everything and I've heard a bit about the work you've been doing on my case so thanks for that as well," I smiled

"Of course George, you're family, I'll do everything I can to make sure you're okay and you don't need to apologise,"

"I do though, its been eating me up that you got caught in the middle I never meant for that to happen, that bastard Malfoy should never have had the nerve to ask your help, he didn't deserve it."

"George.."

"Mione, you've got to listen to me, I care about you, you're my sister-in-law and I've seen over the years what you've done for our family, you made Ron so happy and I just don't want to see you get hurt so no matter what Malfoy says, you can't trust him. Do you understand? Please stay away from him." his face got more flushed as he went on and it was clear he was getting angry and I realised then how long it might truly take for him to ever be able to move on from his brothers death and forgice those he saw as responsible for it, those on the wrong side of the war like Draco.

**Another long chapter :) I kinda loved this one actually, Timmons! :D I adore him lol, I just had to make him gay I'm sorry he's just brilliant as gay hehe and poor George :( anyway, Draco stuff next chapter and what the letter says etc so I'll try and get that out asap, not sure it'll b v quick though cuz my a-levels are coming up so I'll try and keep going with this but if it takes me a bit longer between updates then u'll know why, cuz I'm lying on the floor somewhere screaming 'why were exams ever created!' lol :P, but anyway..moving on hehe.. Review and I'll give you chocolate!! :) ~xx~**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I left soon afterwards, managing not to give George any real answers even as he begged me to promise to stay away from Draco. It wasn't something I could promise him to do based purely on his prejudices but I didn't want to deceive him into thinking I wouldn't. I waved to Timmons on the way out and walked out through the atrium of the ministry with a straight back as I tried to pull myself together.

_Somehow I hadn't allowed myself to believe he was this irrational and driven by a need for revenge, by avoiding speaking to him even as I spent so much time working on his case I had let myself avoid the issue altogether, burying myself instead in old tomes of Wizarding law that were so much safer and understandable._

I managed to make it so far as a small cafe a couple of streets away from the ministry before allowing my control to break, I sank down into the corner of the booth and dropped my head into my arms as the first few tears slipped out. _Why did I always feel as if everyone were trying to pull me in every direction?_

A kindly looking woman not much older than myself tapped me on the shoulder making me jerk my head up in response, she looked at me with a small hint of concern.

"Are you alright miss? Can I get you anything?" she asked

"I'm fine," _the age old lie, I felt far from 'fine', _"Could I just have a cup of tea please?"

"Of course love," she walked away to get it for me and I took the moment to look around at my surrounding which I had largely ignored as I walked in, it was a dinky little place really and as I watched the waiters and waitresses interact with the customers I realised that everyone seemed to know each other as if people had been coming here their whole lives. The thought made a ghost of a smile appear on my face as I thought of the comfort that sort of familiarity brought with it, it was one of the things that had made me love the whole Weasley family, how close they all were.

It was a proper family, something I had never really had, my parents were nice people of course and I loved them to bits even though I didn't see them as much as I probably should nowadays, but I was an only child and generally a bit of an outcast at school as it was plus mum and dad were usually busy working. I had realised long ago that I immersed myself in learning and books so much because not only did it give me something to escape into but also I felt that if I worked hard enough then my parents would notice me more, making them proud was everything to me.

The woman came back with my tea then and placed it in front of me, I smiled up at her in gratitude, the tears already dried on my face though I still had the sensation of a heavy weight pressing down on my chest.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else? I could make you some buttered teacakes if you like, you look like you could do with something to eat if you don't mind me saying, a bit peaky," I chuckled wryly

"Alright then you've twisted my arm, teacakes it is," she nodded happily and whisked off to complete the order and I felt some of the pressure lift from me, it was odd how you could find kindness in the oddest places. I shifted slightly in my seat and froze as I heard the slight crinkle of paper, _I had almost forgotten I had that. _Draco's letter was tucked securely in my pocket, I had been carrying it around ever since I got it but I hadn't dared to open it yet, maybe now was the time to, away from home, tucked away in the corner of a cafe where there was no-one to watch or judge me.

With jittery fingers I reached into my pocket and drew out the letter, my name on the front looking exactly the same as it had every other time I had looked at it. Laying it down on the table in front of me I just stared at it wondering again what it would say, scared to open it because once I did, once I read it there would be no going back, it could not be un-read.

"Here you are," I was snapped out of my reverie by the arrival of my food, the smell of which made me realise just how hungry I was, I had barely eaten that morning out of nerves and now I felt like I would be able to devour the whole plate of teacakes with one bite, it wasn't helping that they looked so utterly delicious.

"Thanks, that absolutely perfect," I smiled and the concern that was there in the woman's face before seemed to evaporate.

"Just give me a wave if you need anything else and I'll head over," she said as she went on to serve the next customer, placing Draco's letter to the side with hesitant movements I focused on relaxing first as I ate through my food and sipped at my tea till the tangles in my stomach seemed to ease up slightly.

Eventually however I knew I could not put the moment off any longer as I drained the last of my tea, glancing at the remains of my teacakes which consisted of a few crumbs. Sighing I pushed it away and brought Draco's letter back in front of me, my fingertips holding the edges gently as I tried to work past the barrier of fear that had built up in my mind so that I could just open it and get it over with whatever the outcome.

It took me a few more moments but finally I found myself slipping my fingers beneath the seal on the back and listening to the satisfying small crack as it broke. Knowing that this was it now I swiftly retrieved the parchment from inside and opened out the letter, my eyes closing briefly as I breathed in and out through my nose, noting that the slightly husky smell of Draco lingered a little in the air, before opening again to read.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I won't lie to you and say that I was not a little surprised by what you said at the hospital however I would like to make clear that I do not wish for it to come between us, I value your friendship greatly and want to continue being able to talk to you. If however you feel you would rather we did not contact each other for some time then of course I will oblige you._

_It meant a lot to me when you accepted my son and I into the lives of you, Ron, Harry and Ginny, knowing that Scorpio will not be forced to share the same childhood as I had and can learn that family and friends mean more than status. I am sad to say that lesson was only brought home to me by the atrocities of the war and the aftermath. Now that I know it though it is not something I can easily forget and you are certainly not _someone _I could easily forget._

_In the spirit of full disclosure I feel I must also tell you that the idea of sharing more than friendship with has crossed my mind, it is hardly surprising when I consider how close I have grown to you in such a short amount of time and how noticeable your grace, beauty and intelligence is to anyone sensible enough to look. Perhaps if I had not been such a selfish and bigoted person as a child things may have turned out differently but as it is we both have other obligations I propose that we act as the adults we are and wait for the feelings to pass._

_I, myself, hope that we can move past this without allowing it to destroy our friendship but for the mean time I will give you as much space as you need, simply know that I wish for your happiness no matter whether you wish never to see me again or not._

_Yours,_

_Draco Malfoy_

I sat for some time in that little cafe reading Draco's words over and over until it slowly began to get dark and the place began to close up. Realising that that Ron, who had stayed home with Rose for the day might be getting worried that I had been gone so long I quickly paid the bill and found a small alleyway nearby from which to apparate back home. The letter was safely tucked back into my pocket, my mind reeled slightly in shock even as I hugged Ron on my return and sat down to have dinner with him and Rose, even as I kissed Rose on the forehead and tucked her into bed and slipped into my bed with Ron.

The words replayed over and over in my mind, the idea that he might like me back but had decided that it didn't matter, that he still wanted my friendship was one that had never even crossed my mind beforehand but as I drifted off to sleep one thought stuck out amidst all the other jumbled ones.

_I don't want to lose his friendship either, but if we both have feelings for each other what are the chances one of us will slip up and cross the line between friends and lovers?_

**Fast update :) was bored so here it is, hope you like, I was sort of panicking over what on earth to say in Draco's letter and then it just sort of wrote itself, I hope its not too OOC I tried to make him sound sort of proper like a Malfoy would but then I had to have him being all nice as well :s the cafe bit at the beginning was a killer as well cuz its given me such a craving 4 teacakes nd we dnt av ne :( anyway enuf of my randomness, please review :) ~xx~**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I wrote Draco a short reply the next day, accepting the offer of friendship but without mentioning any way of going forward as such, meeting up to talk or anything like that. I knew he would understand the implication that any friendship would have to be put on hold for a little while so that I could collect myself and maybe try to make my marriage a bit stronger before I faced him again.

At home Ron and I pretended we had never argued, avoided the subject entirely and managed to get on almost as well as ever, I couldn't say that I was overly happy with the way things were at the moment but truthfully it was nice to have a chance for a breather. I spent most of my time working when I wasn't looking after Rose, I had contacted the research department at the ministry to inform them that I would be resuming my normal workload.

It was a good distraction, delving into dusty old books in order to try and seek forms of magic that could prove beneficial to the wizarding world if channelled in the right ways. I realised that I had missed the feeling of accomplishment during the chaos that had taken over my life lately, the sense that I could be doing something to contribute. I could already feel the cogs in my mind snapping away, driving me forwards with a desire for knowledge.

The case work the ministry had most recently asked me to investigate was the basic elementals of magic, the very foundations of the power we held, much of the information having been lost in time. It utterly engrossed me, some texts on the matter had been sent over to me by the ministry, much of it needing various layers of translation spells that I had become adept at over the years. Of course my research also lead me rolls of parchment and books that were kept in other countries, which meant that over the course of a couple of weeks I applied for portkeys to various countries.

Most of the time I went during the day whilst Rose was attending the muggle school I had sent her to but occasionally I would wait till the end of the day so that I could bring her with me. It was nice for us, spending time together even if it was amidst age-old dusty books, it allowed Rose to see different places and I loved the way her eyes lit up with fascination and curiosity that reminded me of myself sometimes.

Ron also spent a lot of time at his job, staying even till the early hours of the morning a couple of times, I wasn't sure whether his job really required it had never proved to be quite this demanding before but I told myself it would pass, that he just needed some time away from me to sort his own head out.

I couldn't remember the last time we had really expressed affection towards each other.

I was barely even aware of it as the days drifted past, each melting into the next until two weeks had passed and I realised that Georges trial started in just one more day. I had kept in touch with Blaise of course, even using it as an excuse occasionally when I was feeling lonely to ask how Draco was. Blaise always replied that he was doing okay with a small knowing smile on his face.

With regards to the case, things were going well, Blaise had already approached a few Wizengamot members who would be present at the hearing casually to gauge more accurately what they were thinking and so build up a stronger case that would deal with their concerns and doubts. Both Draco and I would be called up as witnesses and I had gone over the details of my statement a couple dozen times to make sure I didn't mess up on the details and therefore throw suspicion on the credibility of my entire statement.

Apparently the character witnesses would include Charlie and Ginny, I asked Blaise why Molly wasn't going to be involved but he had claimed she was too emotional at the moment to deal with it despite even her own protestations that she wanted to help. I fell silent then, almost shuddering as I tried to imagine the hell she must be going through, to have lost a child and then to have to face the prospect of her other child being locked away, it was indescribably horrible.

It seemed as though everything was ready and I felt another burst of gratitude towards Draco for asking Blaise to help us, our chances of winning the case with him behind the helm had increased exponentially.

The day before the trial was spent at the Burrow, I was shocked at first when Ron asked me to come that morning but he really seemed to want me there so of course I came. At first I was nervous, I hadn't set foot in the Burrow since the whole thing had begun, Ginny may not blame me but I couldn't help but feel Molly still resented me slightly. I wasn't sure if I would be welcome or not, in fact part of me expected to be kicked out the moment I set foot in the house.

"Hermione," I looked up with a hesitant gaze as I brushed the few specks of soot from my clothing with one hand after stepping through the floo, my other hand clasped Rose's.

"Molly," I acknowledged, I knew my nervousness was obvious and I tried to swallow it down as I watched Ron go over to his brother Bill who handed him a cup of tea.

"Thank you for the work you've done," she smiled holding out her hand, it wasn't quite the warm hug I used to receive but it certainly wasn't the rejection I had been waiting for and as she clasped my hand in both of hers I felt a little warmth return to my insides. _We'll sort things out eventually, _I assured myself.

"Of course, how could I not help?" I smiled back as we dropped each other hand naturally and Molly ruffled Rose's hair affectionately whilst we walked over to the kitchen counter-top in order to get our own cups of tea, I watched as Rose clambered onto a chair before turning back to my mother-in-law.

"Though Blaise has really done most of the work, the case wouldn't be nearly as strong as it is without his work, it was good of Draco to get his help really," I commented, a flash of tenseness passed across Molly's face but I put it down to the fact that it Draco's son George had kidnapped, which was bound to make her feel at least a little awkward at the mention of his name.

"Of course, it was generous of him wasn't it?" I hummed my assent, feeling a quiver of nervousness return as a tense silence I didn't quite understand descended, both Ron and Bill sipping at their drinks quietly and Rose quietly tracing patterns on the counter-top surface, obviously sensing the frostiness in the air. I was more than relieved when Ginny wandered in.

"Mione!" she exclaimed coming over and hugging me as I put down my cup to return the embrace, "Did you get here just now?" she asked, moving back to look at my face, we smiled at each other, I always did feel more at ease around my best friend.

"Yeah, we-" I was cut off as Rose, who had already jumped out of her seat, ran head first into Ginny, her little arms wrapping round her.

"Auntie Ginny!" Ginny and I chuckled,

"Hello sweetheart and how are you today?" Ginny asked,

"I'm okay," she answered before frowning a little, "but everyone seems upset," she added in a stage whisper, I grimaced slightly as Ginny's gaze flickered to meet mine over Rose's head.

"I know, but things will be okay soon I promise," she answered, "why don't you go on into the living room, your cousins are already there, you can play for a bit," she smiled. Rose nodded excitedly and hurried off, I sighed and the two of us looked at each other a moment, understanding passing between us, _I wish she didn't have to see this, see us all so upset. _I knew that Ginny felt the same for her own kids and I was extremely glad to have her standing by me even if I didn't have Molly or even Ron.

The rest of the day was spent quietly, each of us mostly lost in our own thought, only occasionally seeking distraction in talking to each other, this was the most time I had spent in the same room as Ron since the argument but we barely said two words to each other. I tried to push it to the back of my mind though, it wasn't what today was about, today was about waiting, about George.

When night began to fall, Molly insisted we all stay the night despite how tight it would be especially as none of us would use George and Fred's room, understandably so. In the end Ron and I found ourselves camped out in the living room on a bed that been transfigured from the sofa with Rose tucked between us. I watched silently as Rose's eyelids fluttered and her breathing slowed, Ron had his back turned to me and though his breathing was slow I wasn't sure if he was asleep or not.

Though watching Rose calmed me a little my racing mind that was slowly being taken over by anxiety as I went over everything I remembered the night we found Scorpius and George, refused to let me relax enough to sleep. I found myself shifting slightly every few minutes, unable to get comfortable until eventually a soft voice interrupted me.

"Try and get some sleep Mione, you'll need it tomorrow," I heard Ron say and I froze, unsure whether to reply or what I should say whilst my gut churned from the show of concern. In the end I didn't say anything but oddly I found the words were enough to finally put my mind to rest a little and allow me to drift off to sleep.

**okay so I'm kinda evil because not only did this take ages to get out but it's also ridiculously filler-ish, I'll t****ry and get the next one out sooner with George's trial as my exams are finally coming to an end, just two left now and then freedom! well until I go to uni anyway lol. The next chapter will be when Hermione see's Draco again as well seeing as they're both witnesses, some good ol' sexual tension hehe ~xx~**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The next morning was chaotic to say the least as always when the Weasleys all gathered together for something, the main difference this time however was the chilling silence and of course the fact that George was missing from the group. The children hung back with poorly suppressed uncertainty and fear etched on their wide-eyed faces. There didn't seem to any comfort we could give them when their worry was merely a reflection of our own.

In my mind I ran through all the details I could remember about the case, reciting to myself the laws both Blaise and I had decided to make use of as well as thinking through everything I needed to say when it was my turn to be questioned, checking through details to make sure there weren't any holes in my recount.

The minutes blurred past, I could hear Molly in the background directing Bill and Fleur as they put the food Molly had made into the back of the complementary ministry car. I soon lost count of the cups of tea and coffee I made for everyone though my own sat on the counter stone cold. I couldn't quite reconcile myself to the idea of ingesting anything yet.

Time blurred and almost before I knew it the ministry car with all of us packed inside bar the children who had been left with Andromeda and Teddy, was pulling up next to the visitors entrance. We went down to the Atrium in small groups of twos and threes, cramped in that small phone box, Ginny and I were the last to step in and slowly descend into the ministry.

The Atrium was as chaotic as always, the crack of apparition and the flare of green flames in grates on each side of us as we moved through the crowds of ministry workers, lobbyists and visitors alike while trying to stay together. We eventually found ourselves next to the new version of the Fountain of Magical Brethren, I remembered how at the end of the war many, myself included, had petitioned for the replacement statues to emphasise equality instead of the supremacy of witches and wizards. I felt proud that we had won, now the fountain was comprised of a representation of each different magical creature standing on equal footing, looking outwards as they surrounded a globe, the centaurs and house-elves as well as the witches and wizards looked dignified. A light hint of a smile touched my lips before I turned away to see Percy making his way towards with Timmons following behind.

"We need to make our way down to courtroom 9 now," Percy began as he arrived next to his mother, "the trial's going to start in just a little under half an hour and we need to be there in plenty of time, Timmons is going to show everyone where to sit and go over what is going to happen when we get there," he concluded, sending a brief look of acknowledgement to the Auror next to him. Most of us nodded quietly in acquiescence as Percy reached out to hold his mother's hand reassuringly and Arthur patted him lightly on the shoulder.

Slightly huddled together we all began to follow Percy closer and closer to the court room where it would be decided how George would have to spend his life from now on, in a mental ward or prison. It all seemed so horribly bleak and my thoughts no doubt showed on my face as Timmons fell back slightly from the head of the group to walk beside me, sending me a concerned look.

"Are you going to be alright with this?" he asked discreetly

"I'll be fine," I promised, trying to inject as much conviction into my voice as possible, "it's George we need to be worried about and his family, I'm hardly the one that matters in all of this. I just need to make sure that I say everything that needs to be said when they question me."

"Alright but don't make the mistake of ignoring the stress this is putting on you for the sake of worrying about others above yourself," he replied and I glanced sideways at him with a small smile that hovered between gratitude and reassurance.

"I'll try not to, I'm just hoping we all make it through this in one piece," I confided as we stepped into the elevator with everyone else, the truth was I was terrified that if we didn't win this case, if George was actually sent to prison, everyone I had come to care about, my surrogate family, would utterly despise me. It didn't exactly help matters that this would be the first time I was going to see Draco since we had both admitted to feeling more than friendship for each other but I tried to put that to the back of my mind as it felt inappropriate to be worrying about that given who I was with and what we were here for.

That of course didn't stop the sudden jolt of my stomach when we finally reached the door to courtroom two, having finally escaped from the crowded elevator and trotted briskly down a few sets of stairs, only to lock eyes with the other main witness in the case.

My breathing halted and stuttered as Draco and I looked at each other for what seemed like minutes but in reality was probably only for the space of a few heartbeats. That was all the time that it took for acknowledgement and understanding to pass between us before we tore our eyes from each other at the same time, Draco going back to addressing another Auror I recognised as having worked on the case and myself returning my attention to the Weasley's.

I struggled to regain a calm pattern of breathing whilst I hoped no-one had noticed the falter in my composure, I saw Timmons glance at me but his expression spoke more of his continued worry over how I seemed to be handling the situation rather than any suspicion. I re-focused my mind, steering my thought away from the buzzing mess that incorporated all of my uncertainties where Draco was concerned, and it wasn't long before my attention was successfully captured by the view of the expansive courtroom we had walked into.

Seats were tiered around a central space and my mind flashed back with a small shudder to the trials I had attended with Harry and Ron in the aftermath of the war. _Will the echoes of that war ever stop harming people? _I wondered to myself, my quick mind already answering that it wasn't likely. To the left Percy and Timmons, who had left my side with a brief comforting touch on my arm, were directing everyone to a small row of seats reserved those watching the trial.

A few people were already there, I scanned there faces and managed to recognise some as having been involved as victims of George's group of vigilantes, not the direct victims of course because of the damage, both physical and mental, that they had gone through but the indirect victims, family and friends of the sufferers. I was happy however to see that there were not only enemies that had come to see George's trial, Angelina had come and even Luna was looking about dreamily as was her wont, I managed to catch her eye and smile slightly in recognition which she returned with a look that suggested she already knew the outcome of the trial. You never really knew with Luna but somehow that small hint of a knowledgeable smile reassured me, which I guessed was probably the point of it.

By the time I looked back at where the Weasley family was now going, I noticed most of them already seated at the front, similar grim expressions on each of their faces and I mused that they had as much pride in their family as the Malfoy's did in many ways. Charlie was standing to the side by me, waiting for Timmons' directives like me as he was to be one of the character witnesses. When Timmons was satisfied with where everyone had been settled he turned to the two of us just as Percy was claiming his place on the end of the row.

"You two will be sitting over here with the other witnesses," he said, gesturing to the right side of the room which had a row at the front of the tiered seats separated off, glancing to the side I could see that there was another small section of seats separated off which was already occupied by a prim woman and a plaintive looking wizard who barely seemed to have outgrown Hogwarts. I surmised that they must be reporters, or at least the woman was whereas the boy was probably her assistant and my suspicions were soon confirmed when I could see the swift movement of the woman's quill scratch along the surface of her parchment. I found myself immensely thankful that Rita Skeeter was no longer writing for the Prophet and for the fact that this reporter at least seemed to be using a normal quill rather than any of the editions of the quick-quotes quills.

Looking away from them I sat myself down next to Charlie, my nerves returning full blast as my eyes wandered across the vastness of the room. With the absence of the shuffling of our feet as our party had seated themselves I noticed how eerie the silence was as we all waited for the trial to get under way. It was swiftly broken however by the presence of more footsteps and I glanced up to see both Harry and Draco walking into the courtroom, the Auror Draco had been talking to earlier following behind. Timmons caught the eye of the Auror and a silent signal appeared to pass between them though my attention was rather more focused on the other two people moving about in the room.

"I'll talk to you later Hermione, good luck." Timmons said with a smile and nodding amiably to Charlie before disappearing off to talk with his colleague. My fingers twitched nervously as I appealed silently to anything and everything in the universe, the Greek Gods and Goddesses I had once been so fascinated with, the Christian God my parents believed in and the various manifestations of magic that the wizarding world sometimes revered, that Draco would _not _be the one to sit next to me.

None of them appeared to be on my side however, or maybe it was just Harry as he was the one currently insisting that Draco go and sit down before him in a gesture he probably thought was polite and generous. From the corner of my eye I saw Draco glance uncertainly at me, Harry remained oblivious though as even when Draco muttered something to him, indicating that Harry should be the one to sit first, my now ex-best friend shook his head with a damned _smile _and gestured again for Draco to sit down.

Presumably not to make a fuss Draco acquiesced, somehow managing to look calm and collected as he came to sit by me whereas I myself was trying to fight down quakes of fear. _I need more time away from him, I can't deal with this so soon after we admitted everything, especially today! _My mind screamed at me, I was grateful that Draco tried to sit as far away as possible without appearing impolite but I could still feel the warmth from his body and I could still smell his cologne.

I looked straight ahead and meticulously ran over my statement yet again in my head in a vain attempt to distract my thoughts from his presence, despite understanding the futility of it. Harry sat down on the other side of Draco then and caught my eye to give me a brief warming look, I made an attempt to smile back but as my thought were at that moment running more or less along the lines of '_I will throttle you when we get out of here!' _I don't think it came across as very welcoming or reassuring.

To my increasing horror though, Harry misunderstood completely and actually leant across Draco who drew back in his seat with a startled look, if the situation had been any less dire I might actually have laughed at Draco's expression and Harry's utter obliviousness. I looked down at my lap just as Harry's hand closed on my own,

"George will be just fine Mione, don't worry so much," he smiled softly and I managed to make my own smile a little bit more convincing this time. As much as Harry could be just as inept when it came to deciphering emotions as Ron sometimes, I could appreciate that he was still my friend and merely concerned. With relief I watched him draw back into his seat, nodding his 'hello' to Charlie as he did so before looking across at the rest of the Weasley's.

I could see them nodding and waving to him, I was caught for a moment in the hostile gaze of Molly who was glancing between Draco and I as if it was entirely our fault and guiltily imagined how much worse it might be if she knew of everything between the two of us. What felt suspiciously like a very large lead weight settled in the bottom of my stomach as I looked down at my lap just as Molly looked away to Harry with a warm smile and I absentmindedly started to twist my fingers together, using my blunt nails to scratch at the back of my hands in a gesture of nervousness and guilt and moroseness all mixed up together.

I was startled out of it however by a soft breath next to my ear and the soft touch of fingers stopping the movement of my hands,

"Harry's right, don't worry so much. Things will work out, I promise." Draco said discreetly, my chest tightened with the hope that was born from that promise as well as the fear that it wasn't true but I nodded my agreement and let my hands relax on my lap. Draco's hand retreated and I found myself fighting a small stab of disappointment, I looked up and glanced at Ron across the room from me to find that he was engaged in a whispered discussion with his brother Bill. I let out a small sigh, not sure whether I should be relieved he hadn't seen or disappointed that he was paying no attention to me.

Annoyed with my mind which only seemed to run around in circles these days I pushed my thoughts to the side and focused on waiting for the Wizengamot to appear as well as George. Thankfully I didn't have to wait long, the Wizengamot began to file in from a slightly elevated door at the back of the room which led directly onto the tiered seats left for them. My eyes flitted here and there amongst them, managing to recognise almost all of them, my mind working on who Blaise and I had discussed were most likely to be sympathetic.

The minister came in last, Miranda Cartinson, someone I had always greatly respected and I could only hope that she would rule in our favour, after all if we managed to sway _her _opinion then chances were that the majority of the Wizengamot would vote with her. Hushed conversations prevented silence now and an air of expectancy ran through everyone.

With a small creak a small door in the corner of the room, a little way behind where the reporter and her assistant were seated, four Aurors came through, escorting George with magical bond around his wrists to suppress his magic. I was glad to see that he looked well but things had only really begun to get difficult as he was directed to the seat in the middle of the room.

**I know it's been too long again and I don't even have any excuses this time as I'm no longer at school, I just fell into a slump so you have my apologies though feel free to yell at me for being lazy, I'll get back to updating as regularly as possible now hopefully. To make up for it this chapter is quite a bit longer than some of my previous ones, each chapter seems to get longer :S I hope you liked this one though, I hope no-one takes any offence over how I portrayed Harry, I just couldn't resist adding a little bit of comedy :) till next time then, please review and thank you for all the reviews so far, they really mean a lot to me -hugs reviewers- XD ~xx~**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

I could feel my blood thrumming in my veins as I watched George be brought forwards and shackled to the chair, open to the scrutiny of everyone in the room. I felt the sharp twist of pain when his eyes flickered around the room only to land on Draco, his features melding into an expression of the purest hate.

I found myself grateful when Cartinson's voice cut through the air, dragging George's attention away,

"George Weasley, you have been brought forward on charges of kidnapping, torture and encouraging others to act outside of the law," she announced to the room, "How do you plead?"

"Guilty," George answered and I only just suppressed a flinch when I saw the blaze of zealotry in his eyes, guilt was one of the last things he felt with regards to the victims of his vigilante group. I turned away and focused on Cartinson, I would deal with the comparatively straightforward proceedings of the case for now and hope that I could keep the inner turmoil of my emotions at bay till later on.

Cartinson merely nodded at George's statement whilst some of those around her murmured quietly to each other. I could imagine that George's statement didn't surprise her much, anyone who had so much as glanced at his case file could understand that remorse for and defence of his actions wasn't likely given his state of mind.

I had known this from the beginning and Blaise and I had built up the case accordingly.

"Understood," Cartinson continued, "however Mrs Hermione Weasley (1) has filed for a partial pardon on grounds of mental incapacitation rendering you incapable of being able to make responsible decisions for yourself. If the Wizengamot judges that this is the case you will be sent to a mental health facility under the guard of St Mungo's staff, do you understand this?" An air of expectation settled as everyone waited for George's response, truth be told I wasn't altogether sure myself how George had come to view the idea that he was being treated as mentally inept because of his trauma.

I couldn't imagine that it made him happy, it reeked of pity and promised only a future of being treated like a child. I almost regretted basing the case on it as I realised I would be to blame for giving him that future of pills and white walls. Only a sharp reminder that it was by far a better future than being trapped in Azkaban stopped my train of thoughts from shaking my resolve.

"It's not insane to want to protect your family and everyone out there, just because the scumbag Death Eaters are spewing all this shit about being reformed doesn't mean it's true, its exactly the same as after the first war! They're only trying to save their own pathetic hides! The Ministry's more idiotic than I thought if it can't see that, I simply decided it was about time someone did something to make sure these people would never hurt anyone ever again."

By the end of George's little speech a heavy silence settled and I could almost see the racing thoughts passing behind people's eyes even if I was unable to tell what conclusions they were coming to. As for myself, part of me couldn't help but listen attentively to the power that his words held, maybe we really were being too forgiving of war criminals .

Ironically it was George's appearance that brought me back to my senses, his breathing was harsh and his face flush and his eyes still had that chilling gleam of a fanatic. Curling my nails into my thigh I regained my grip on reason, no matter which way you looked at it, it was wrong to torture someone out of your own sense of justice.

Of course it also helped that there was someone I believed to have truly tried to reform themselves and their lives sitting right next to me. My eyes flickered to Draco to try and measure his response to George's words but other than a slight tensing of his jaw he didn't seem to be showing much of a response.

For a fleeting moment I wished I could turn his head and force him to look me in the eye, force him to tell me how he felt as if by making him unload his troubles on me I could ease both of our minds. His eyes resolutely stared forwards however, whether he felt my gaze or not and I restrained myself from reaching out. After all I had felt for a while now that if Draco wanted to talk about his past with me, it would his choice alone.

Cartinson's voice cut through the silence again at that point, "The actions of the Ministry are not in question here Mr. Weasley and whether you believe yourself to have acted rationally or not it is still considered a crime to kidnap and torture members of society no matter what they have done in the past. I will not allow you to further impede these proceedings, please restrain yourself whilst your case is presented to the Wizengamot or action will be taken," she concluded authoritatively.

She kept her stern gaze fixed on him for a few moments before turning away and gesturing slightly to man sitting on her left who immediately snapped to attention and cleared his throat pompously before speaking.

"We have overlooked the evidence as compiled by Mr. Blaise Zabini and acknowledge the witnesses listed, therefore would the first witness please come forward and make their statement, Mr Draco Malfoy?"

From there, time seemed to speed up as I watched Draco give his statement, answering any questions with calm self-assurance despite the hostility and suspicion that would sometimes emanate from the Wizengamot members. Words I was already familiar with drifted in and out of my ears, my fingers twitched in my lap and my gaze shifted from Draco to George and back again.

It barely seemed to have been even five minutes before Draco was dismissed to vacate the chair that had been conjured for him a reasonable way away from George. With a small jolt I realised it would be my turn next and sure enough I heard the same voice that had called Draco cutting through the whispers and mumblings.

Though I could feel the burning gazes of almost everyone in the courtroom carving into the back of my neck I kept my gaze firmly ahead of me, daring any of the Wizengamot members who would to look me in the eye. Strangely I was reminded of all the work I had done to challenge the Ministry, to goad them into being better, making changes to the system. There was the same strange thrill in it, and it made me wonder why I had simply given it up and settled into my job doing research.

By the time I had arrived at my seat, everything had faded into background noise inside my mind, replaced by a steady determination to gain victory for George through calm logic. This was something I could do, something I was sure of and could understand, something an awful lot simpler than trying to sort out my life as it was.

"Hermione Weasley, you are accounted here as a witness to the kidnapping of Scorpius Malfoy, can you tell the Wizengamot what exactly you saw?" Cartinson began and I could see the acknowledgement she was giving me, nodding politely I began my recount of how Draco and I apparated up and down the country to the various Death Eater hideouts until finally coming upon _that _house.

Almost the entirety of my remaining account I was half-distracted by the intense scrutiny I felt coming from those in the room. That of the Wizengamot was easy enough to withstand given that it was merely evaluative and therefore non-judgemental but that of everyone else and George in particular shook my nerves slightly.

Once my account was finished I could only sigh in relief and wait quietly to be questioned whilst I continued to try and ignore George's gaze.

"You say Scorpius Malfoy was bound and unconscious upon your arrival," a middle-aged witch in one of the middle rows began, "and we have the hospital report to account for any spell damage that might have occurred, but were there any other signs of physical abuse that you could see?"

"His wrists were chafed slightly from the bonds but I didn't see any injuries beyond that, he was merely unconscious from what I could tell," I answered directly, quietly pleased when she simply nodded her acceptance.

"We are all aware of course that the person in question here is your brother-in-law and that the relationship between the Malfoys and yourself has never been amiable with you being on opposing sides of the war. What proof can you offer that Mr Malfoy has not been 'convinced' to go along with your version of events so that Mr Weasley may be saved from a deserved fate?" I looked up to find a hawkish man on the second row staring at me with a challenging glint in his eye.

_This must be Simon Thistleton, the slightly obscure pureblood who managed to escape any punishment due to his entirely passive support of Voldemort. _

I could almost have smiled, I had come prepared to deal with him though even if I hadn't the flimsy attempt to challenge me with logic was something I could tear through in minutes.

"First of all the issue of past enmities between Draco and myself as well as both my husband and Harry is null and void, we reconciled long before the incident in question as exemplified by the very fact that he asked for my help." I began, feeling more than a little accomplished at the look of approval Cartinson sent me.

"As for the idea that I or anyone else involved may have 'convinced' Draco to go along with _anything, _I am perfectly willing to submit to questioning under veritaserum to testify to the falseness of that accusation. Though I rather think you are placing too much faith in my cunning to be able to believe that I could have forced Draco into following my own version of events between the time that we retrieved Scorpius and the seconds it took to apparate to St Mungos. That's without even mentioning the fact that if I had truly managed to accomplish this great feat, why wouldn't I have merely made sure that George wasn't even implicated at all?"

It seemed as though Thistleton would counter again, his face had grown increasingly angry during my argument and I just knew he wanted more than anything to put me in my place but Cartinson cut across him.

"That seems sufficient enough, thank you Mrs Weasley, you may return to your seat," I only just managed to suppress the satisfaction from my courteous smile before walking back towards my seat between Draco and Harry, I couldn't however stop the upwards tilt of my head or the renewed confidence in my step.

The warm admiration in Draco's eyes only made my short walk of triumph all the sweeter.

* * *

**I'm alive muwuhaha... yeah sorry it's been a while, going to uni kinda brought a lot of craziness with it, but I'm all settled in now :) and my flatmates are amazing and all is good and rosy :P plus I'm weirdly excited that I've made it to chapter 20 on this so yayness all round. If anyone is still reading let me know what you think :) ~xx~**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Once I'd returned to my seat, both mine and Draco's witness statements dealt with, things seemed to speed up. Harry was called up as George's main character witness next and asked to recount his own interpretation of his brother-in-law's behaviour and personality before and after Fred's death.

I frowned slightly at the fact that any mention of the war was omitted from the Wizengamot's questioning but was more than a little appeased when Harry stared challengingly back at every turn and said what they would not. They could hardly argue with the Chosen One over how much of an effect the war had had on those who had fought in it and on those who had lost their loved ones.

It all seemed to be going smoothly, I could see from the faces of most of the Wizengamot that they were reacting the way we wanted them too, they were beginning to empathise. It didn't take long for Harry to be finished, direct as ever when he was fighting for what he believed to be right.

Then the last witness for the case was being called, the Healer from St Mungo's that the Wizengamot had chosen to evaluate George's mental state. He was relatively young, with sandy-brown hair and a look of someone only just learning how daunting life can be, but trying to appear as if he had figured it out long ago. I hadn't met him before of course, neither had anyone else as according to court rules in case someone tried to sway his judgement.

I was fairly confident that he would conclude that George should not be held entirely responsible for his actions, however a feeling of apprehension was inevitable as this last testimony would be the deciding factor in the case. At least it should all be over soon and despite my instinctual worry, I couldn't really imagine that anyone could come to the conclusion that George was completely mentally healthy.

"If you could state for the court your findings on the state of Mr. George Weasley's mental health please, as according to the interviews you conducted with him Mr. Gullen,"

"Yes, sir," he began, licking his lips and clearing his throat briefly, a small betrayal of his nervousness. "After an extensive interview process it is my opinion that Mr. Weasley was fully cognitive of his actions and that far from being borne out of any mental delusions or instabilities, they came solely from a almost vicious desire for revenge. In fact I would say that he was as sane as you or me, merely less moral"

Tense silence followed, the pressure of the air seemed to intensify tenfold within the few moments it had taken for Gullen to complete his sentence and I suddenly felt as if I couldn't get air into my lungs fast enough. My eyes simply froze, staring at him as if I were willing him to change his mind whilst behind them my brain tried to process what I'd heard, flares of synapses producing half-formed thoughts that turned to ash almost as soon as they began.

It was only chance, therefore, that I caught it, everyone else was looking around at others. As soon as the courtroom began to erupt with the noise of a small crowd all talking at once, Gullen's gaze shifted nervously to a figure sitting on the far side of the room and an almost imperceptible exchange of nods was made.

Everything started to make sense again, he was lying to the court, if he really made a proper evaluation of George he most likely came to the same conclusions as everyone else. For some reason though, Gullen was now conspiring to send George to Azkaban.

_Why?_

_If I can just figure that out then I may be able to present my theory to the Wizengamot and stop Gullen's testimony from being accepted._

A renewed sense of purpose quickly overtaking the lost helplessness of a moment ago, I attempted to scrutinise the figure on the far side of the room, trying to guess who it was.

"What is it?" I heard Draco say , so close to my ear that I could feel his breath, presumably he was trying not to attract attention to the fact that I had noticed something but it still managed to send a shiver of warmth down my spine. Ignoring it, I answered in a whisper from the side of my mouth,

"He nodded to someone on that side of the room, think about it, the only way a person could come to the conclusion that George is perfectly sane is if they were utterly incompetent or lying and personally I don't think the Wizengamot would have chosen someone so completely stupid."

"True, so who is the person he nodded to?"

"The man sitting three seats in from the left as far as I could tell, can you recognise him? He seems familiar but he's too far away, I can't see him properly so I can't think of a name." I muttered in frustration, risking a small glance at Draco while he looked, trying to discern from his expression whether he knew the person or not. He only seemed slightly puzzled but otherwise passive, it could be incredibly annoying how well he managed to school his features sometimes.

"I'm not sure, I have an idea but unless I get a closer look I don't want to make any assumptions,"

"Alright, we'll have to figure out a way to do that then, in the meantime, how on earth are we supposed to convince Cartinson that Gullen's testimony is false? We can't let George go to Azkaban, we just can't." I whispered vehemently, my eyes now fixed on the Weasley's, my extended family. Molly looked like her innards had just been ripped out.

"I know, we won't. Trust me, I'm going to try something and I hope to Merlin it works," Draco answered soothingly, only a small bit of worry seeping into his voice at the end. Turning my head, I watched as he actually stood up and cleared his throat to catch the attention of the Wizengamot and in fact the whole court.

"I apologise for the interruption Minister Cartinson, but would it be possible to take a small break from the proceedings? I have just received news of some new evidence that has come to light and I wish to brief you on it before it is presented to the whole court."

I almost had to stifle a small laugh that threatened to break loose when I watched the affect Draco's words had on everyone, it seemed there was one wave of uproar after another in this case. Most people just seemed confused, others angry but most satisfyingly of all, Gullen seemed scared.

Harry leaned in next to me, noticing that I wasn't quite as surprised by the turn of events as everyone else, "Mind filling me in on what you two have got hidden up your sleeves?"

"I'll tell you in a minute," I whispered back, "Let's just see if this works first."

As I watched, Cartinson looked at Draco as if trying to assess what it was he had in mind and her shrewd eyes glanced briefly at Gullen before appearing to reach a decision. Ignoring her chattering colleagues, most of whom were divided between looking disapproving and looking curious, she nodded, confirming her answer before she had even said anything.

"Alright Mr. Malfoy, I'll agree to a fifteen minute break but if you're only wasting my time, I have no qualms over banning you from my court and striking any testimony you have given from the records."

Draco smiled courteously and bowed his head slightly, "Of course Minister,"

"Meet me in the adjoining office in a few minutes, the rest of you are dismissed for the time being,"

Noise erupted around the room as everyone began to move from their places, discussing the turn of events as they went. Realising this might be my chance, I snuck around a baffled Harry and made my quickly through the crowds whilst trying to be as inconspicuous as possible and keeping my eyes fixed constantly on my target.

With quick shuffling steps I dodged around people in the crowd until finally, I was near him. It only took a glance from this close to realise who it was and everything seemed to click into place. So as not to draw any more attention to myself than I may have already, I continued walking out of the court without going back to find Harry and Draco. I could trust that they would find me outside but I had to hope that I would find Draco and be able to tell him before he was called in to see Cartinson.

The corridor outside the courtroom was in chaos when I reached it and no longer caring who saw me I pushed past people frantically, casting a small spell that allowed me to see above everyone's heads. Thankfully it didn't take too long and I located both Harry and Draco standing near the stairs talking together.

"It was Calhoun's brother, Seth" I said when I reached them, assuming that Draco had already explained what I had seen to Harry as he showed no confusion.

"Calhoun? As in the first guy who was taken? I heard he wasn't even that involved in the war," Harry commented.

"He wasn't, it was Seth who was actually a Death Eater but he went into hiding as soon as any rumour of the vigilante group started to spread. My guess is George's group caught Calhoun and hoped Seth would follow. He didn't of course, he cares far more about his own skin than that of his family." Draco answered

"But why is he here if not for revenge?" I asked,

"He may be heartless when he thinks he's in danger but now that he's not, he'll do everything he can to avenge the damage he feels has been done to his family's pride. He wants to see George shunned from Wizarding society. Putting him in Azkaban is the most effective way of doing that whilst making sure he'll suffer at the same time," I gave Draco an inquisitive look and he shrugged slightly, "I met him once before, he may be quite young but he enjoys clinging to the oldest ways of pureblood thinking."

"I don't imagine there's a way of talking him out of it then, if he's like that?" Harry asked, Draco just shook his head.

"Then our only option is to find proof that he's influenced Gullen's testimony while Draco stalls for time," I said, eyeing a man who looked fairly official making a beeline towards Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy, Minister Cartinson is ready to see you now if you could come this way please?" he asked as he arrived in front of us, confirming my suspicion, Draco nodded to him and with a swift meaningful glance to us, was gone.

My gaze lingered for a moment before I turned to Harry, "I guess we have work to do," I said, and Harry smiled slightly.

"I can't see how we'll fail when you've got that glint of resolve in your eye," he teased.

**Overdue I know, but I'm on christmas holidays now so I have a break from essays! Finally! As brilliant as uni's been, finding space between work, friends and recovering from hangovers isn't the easiest thing :/ but I have my chair and I have my metaphorical superglue and I will be glueing myself down till I get through all the random things I've been meaning to write during the next three weeks, which should include more quicker updates of this :) hope the slightly longer chap makes up for the wait this time and Happy Solstice for yesterday, (or the day before rather given its past midnight,) for those who celebrate it and Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it for Friday and Happy Holidays for those who don't celebrate either :) ~xx~**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

With my head buzzing with idea's and half-formed plans for gaining the evidence we needed from Seth and Gullen, and vague pleading hopes for Draco's success, Harry and I immediately set to tailing Seth, our main target. Both of us sank into our roles, understanding each other's movements without words.

It was comforting to know that Harry at least would always be one of my closest friends and that I could rely on him in times like these. We managed to make our way through the crowd of people between Seth and us, many who had been inside the courtroom and some who had been waiting outside, with relative ease.

We were careful enough not to draw attention to the fact that we were moving purposefully so that we were barely given a second glance. It almost reminded me of working together during the war but I quickly shook the thought away, just because some of us couldn't help but dwell on it, didn't mean I had to.

Seth seemed to have detached himself quickly and effectively from everyone else as soon as he had left the courtroom, I wondered whether it was an attempt at stealth or simply a feeling of superiority. Remembering what Draco had said made me believe it was more likely to be the latter.

He wasn't far enough away from the crowds of people however that we could get very close to him without being noticed. Instead we hovered, watching him and hoping he would make a move so that we could catch him out. In my mind I quickly ran through all I knew of spells to record noises, conversations and the like, the ones to record images would be too complicated to perform quickly but I didn't think they would be necessary.

Each minute that passed without incident or the slightest betrayal of guilt on Seth's part seemed to exceed its prescribed number of seconds tenfold. I could only keep remembering that we had just fifteen minutes according to Cartinson and I couldn't imagine that Draco was that astoundingly convincing that he could make her go back on her word.

I had assumed at first that Gullen would be just nervous enough that he would be willing to approach Seth to seek reassurance that this wouldn't backfire on them. The whole scheme was reliant on the fact that we had scared Gullen by the mention of new evidence but when I looked around I couldn't even see him. I could only see Seth in front of us and milling crowds of spectators of the case behind.

Maintaining my grip on an assumed calmness only by sheer force, I almost cried out loud when Harry tapped my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "He's coming up the other corridor, look" I glanced in the direction Harry nodded his head and sure enough, with a flood of relief tingling through me, I could see Gullen attempting to appear nonchalant as he made his way towards Seth.

I turned my back to him, simultaneously blocking a view of Harry and waited with my breath lodged in my chest. With a few wordless flicks of my wand I cast the necessary spells to allow Harry and I to hear what was going on without the interference of the noise of the crowd still milling about in the corridor. Keeping my ears trained on what was happening behind me and my wand poised, ready to cast the spell to record the conversation, I glanced around to make sure that we weren't being noticed by said crowd.

Whilst it shouldn't make too much difference if someone saw Harry and I standing to the side as we were, our main focus being staying hidden from Seth and Gullen, it was better to be cautious. Especially if any of them decided to come over to talk to us, reporters would be particularly annoying but anyone would do the job of drawing unwanted attention to the two of us really.

Harry seemed to precipitate my actions however, casting a spell that sent a ripple through the air surrounding us, with Gullen still apparently hesitant to approach Seth I figured I had time to send him a questioning glance. He shrugged, 'We're visible but no-one will be able to focus on us for us very long, their minds won't allow them to,' he mouthed.

With a mental note to ask him for the spell later and a small smile, I returned my attention to the enhanced sound of Gullen's footsteps that seemed to have come to a shuffled stop. I shifted my body slightly and focused on my peripheral vision to see that Seth had noticed the young Healer and without any more acknowledgment than a single look, his eyes swept the vicinity before he turned and headed down a small corridor to his left. Gullen followed quickly on his heels, and some of the tension left my muscles as I realised neither of them had seen us.

Swift steps accompanied by the buzzing in my head led us to the two conspirators then, who had managed to find an empty room. The charms muttered under my breath immediately set to work recording the conversation as Harry and I silently hoped for anything that could be used as solid proof.

"This is my career that's on the line Seth," recognising Gullen's voice I felt a small stab of sympathy, he seemed to be attempting to instil authority in the words but was failing at every wavering note.

"Your career is fine," a voice answered, one that had far practice at exerting authority if the dismissive tone was anything to go by, Seth then, "It's only going to be at risk if anyone notices we're both gone at the same time, why the hell did you want to talk to me?"

"Because I'm not so sure I can do this now! I know I owe you, alright? I'll pay you back another way, just let this go for now, please? They're saying they have new evidence, what if they have already figured us out?"

"Do you really think you'll just be able to go back in there and change your testimony? Your career will definitely be ruined then _and _you'll be questioned which means most likely I'll be heading straight to Azkaban with you. The new evidence is clearly a last ditch attempt to save Weasley, I doubt it's anything substantial."

There was a pause and inside my mind I found myself practically screaming at them to _hurry up _and say something more concrete.

"Honestly sometimes you act like you're still back at Hogwarts, you don't have any idea how the world works, this isn't like going up to McGonagall and confessing to a few pranks." I heard Seth say, only faint venom apparent in his voice and I had to wonder whether the two had known each other back in school, they seemed close in age, only a few years older than myself or Harry, but Gullen's demeanour had made me think of him as slightly younger.

"Alright, fine, I get it, I'll stick to it," I heard Gullen reply, the fight going out of him, Seth it seemed, knew all the right buttons to push, "I'm surprised anyone believes me though, Weasley is clearly not in his right state of mind, sometimes he just rambles bits and pieces of words, it's quite disturbing actually," Gullen sighed, but at that point I wasn't really listening anymore, I turned to Harry and _grinned. _

That was it, that was all we needed for Gullen's testimony to at least get called into question and a second opinion required. Every nerve end in my body seemed to tingle with excitement and Harry was grinning back at me, triumph thickening the air. It was only luck really that I managed to pay enough attention to realise Seth and Gullen appeared to have ended their conversation and one of them at least was vacating the room, presumably to leave the other to leave after so as not to raise suspicion.

My eyes widened as I realised we didn't have enough time to duck into another corridor and as the door was opening I cast the strongest glamour spell I knew at the same time as Harry threw his own over us.

Seeing I had already done mine, however, and knowing one glamour laid over the top of another would cause the air to shimmer, he quickly cancelled his as Gullen looked straight at us. He blinked for a second, then with a huff swiped his hand across his eyes with a muttered, "Must be tired," and I had to thank the stars he wasn't the brightest or the most suspicious of people. If it had been Seth, I had no doubt that the faintest of shimmers would have set him immediately on guard, never mind the distortion that must have been caused by two powerful glamours overlapping.

As Gullen headed up the corridor, Harry and I followed a fair distance behind, with me keeping the glamour wrapped around us. It would be better to be amongst the crowd when Seth left the room, just in case he was watching for George's family and friends, if we could pretend we had been with the Weasley's the whole time we could get him back inside the courtroom and unable to escape.

Just as we were turning the corner towards the main corridor where everyone was gathered I took down the glamour and motioned to Harry to cast the same spell he had used before that made any gaze directed at us slide past without registering our presence. Out of my peripheral view I watched Seth follow behind.

**Sorry it's taken me so long, wasn't entirely happy with the way this chapter was written, still not entirely happy but hey, I figured I might as well get it posted anyway or I'll be faffing with it for another month knowing me. And I realised horribly while going over it that Gullen is only one letter away from Cullen :/ major fail, I only picked it out because when I was deciding I was looking at book titles and author names and came across Gullivers Travels, apparently my sub-conscious is sabotaging my attempts at naming with twilight references *shudder* for the record though, I'm Team Alice ;)**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Harry removed the spell cloaking us as we approached the Weasleys and was pleased to note no gasps of shock at our sudden appearance.

"You're really going to have to teach me that spell, Harry," I said, feeling lighter than I had since this mess had started, now at least there seemed to be an end in sight and a fairly successful end at that.

"I'm surprised you don't know it," he teased, "what happened to the girl who knew everything?"

"Oh, don't be silly, there's plenty of things I don't know, like what the hell's going on in my head most of the time," I retorted, almost grimacing at the truth of the statement. Harry shot me a brief look of concern but we had reached Ron and the others before he could ask me anything.

"You alright? Where did you guys go?" Ron asked as I turned to him, leaning into him as he slipped an arm around my waist even as it set my head buzzing with unresolved questions. I could see Arthur looking at us with curiosity and what looked like hope shining in his eyes whilst Molly stood beside him, looking somewhat crumpled in on herself. I positively ached with sympathy, the woman had lost so much already but one glance at Harry and we both knew we couldn't tell them, there was no way we could even risk the slightest chance of Seth catching wind of our plan.

"We had to check on something, we may have an idea but we won't know until we try it," Harry replied, directing his answer to Ron though loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Well, what? What did you have to check?" Ron continued

"You'll find out Ron, we can't risk saying anything yet," I said quietly, trying to resist turning around and scanning the area around us for Seth or Gullen and too nervous to cast a spell to do the job in case it was noticed. I hadn't used these kind of spells for stealth and observation for a long time and wasn't secure enough in my skill to risk it, especially in a crowd.

Ron made as if to say something else, probably make an objection to being kept in the dark but he was interrupted by movement further down the hallway, apparently Draco's meeting with Cartinson was over. Spinning slightly to get a better view and unconsciously loosening Ron's hold on my waist, I craned my neck far enough to see Draco nodding curtly to an escort next to him before making his way through the crowd alone.

I presumed Cartinson and whoever else had been invited in on questioning Draco over the new evidence had made their way back to the Courtroom via the inner passages linking it to the offices surrounding it. I tried to guess from Draco's expression whether he had been successful, the magical recording we had gathered would mean nothing if it couldn't be used in the trial. At best it could be used in an appeal which would still leave George in Azkaban for six months or so, maybe even a year. At worst an appeal would never even be approved and nothing we had done could save him.

"So?" I asked as soon as he was near enough to hear me, glancing at Ron and Harry as the Weasleys shuffled closer, he replied,

"I just about managed to convince her our evidence is admissable, I told her we had kept it back beforehand in the hopes that one of the people implicated wouldn't go through with what seemed to have been planned but she's still sitting on the fence. This needs to be good, please tell me you managed to get something that doesn't leave any room for doubt, otherwise we are in fact screwed."

Amusement at Draco's phrasing was easily hidden beneath triumph as I nodded, tipping my wand slightly in salute and for a moment I allowed myself to hold Draco's gaze and feel proud. It couldn't have lasted more than a second but a small bubble of happiness gently swelled inside my chest chasing pricks of light through my skin.

It was gone a moment later when I turned to Ron and guilt tainted it all with slow poison, swallowing around torn regret, for what exactly I wasn't sure yet, and smiled as I told him there was a very good chance George would be okay now. He would get the help he needed if the Wizengamot acted fairly in reaction to the evidence we could give them now.

That much Molly definitely heard, her eyes following her family as was, gathered around Harry and I.

"You've managed to do somethin haven't you?" she asked and before Harry or I had a chance of replying she continued, "Thank you, Hermione," she said, the corner of her lip raised slightly in twisted hope that at the very least, her son would not have to go to Azkaban, and after a seconds hesitation I found myself wrapped in an embrace I hadn't felt for quite a while. I tried to squeeze out a mandatory reply of 'your welcome' but found that I only felt the urge to say 'sorry' and not stop. So instead I stayed quiet, swallowing roughly around the heavy lump in my throat and trying to shake off the realisation that emotionally I was closer to the edge than I had thought.

For that moment I dared to hope that Molly and I had come to understand each other a little better, that even with my mistakes and doubts weighing heavily on me, I might still be considered family, no matter what.

In the next second the thoughts had passed as Molly and I pulled back from each other and she went and pulled Harry into a hug, thanking him too, I couldn't help but let a hint of my amusement slip over my lips as she did, Harry always seemed to regress into an awkward teenager again whenever he was enveloped by the motherly Weasley matriarch.

When we all turned to face the doors back into the courtroom again, it was to find that most of its occupants had already returned to their seats, with only a few left filtering through. We tagged on to the back of the crowd, Ron taking my hand and smiling affectionately at me even as I couldn't help but let my eyes flicker back to Draco as he stood back a little from the rest of us, exuding only the faintest hint of discomfort as if he felt he were intruding on the family unit that all of us together formed. His own gaze darting from my hand in Ron's to me, we both looked away then, unsure and guilty.

The atmosphere in the courtroom was less intimidating the second time round as everyone took their seats and looked expectantly towards Cartinson, who in turn was looking pointedly at Harry, Draco and I. We had barely made it to our seats before she was turning and addressing the room.

"The court session is recommencing, after consideration we have decided to allow the admittance of new evidence pertaining to the case," at this she turned again to us, "Mr. Malfoy, the Wizengamot is waiting on you."

Draco stood then, bowing slightly to Cartinson before he addressed her and the wizards and witches surrounding her who each seemed to have expressions of varying curiosity and displeasure. Draco's straight-backed posture and polite confidence as he spoke seemed to whisper of his pure-blood upbringing.

"Thank you Minister, we have reason to believe that the statement made by witness Healer Gullen is false and he himself knows it to be. In attempting to condemn the suspect in question, he was merely furthering the revenge plot of his associate, Seth Ordent."

The urge to look at the two in question became too great then and I couldn't help the satisfactions that rose in me when I watched Gullen pale and shift nervously in his seat, his eyes darting from us to the Wizengamot and almost hopelessly to the man who had embroiled him in this mess in the first place. Seth had more control, he sat stoically, his frame stiff with forced neutrality and indifference, only his face showed a hint of the anger burning beneath the surface.

By the time I looked back to the Wizengamot, most had also schooled their own expressions, though I didn't think Cartinson had shown any surprise to begin with, perhaps she had expected this? Perhaps she had already been able to tell Gullen had been lying about George's mental state, I really couldn't help but admire her and for a second I contemplated what it would be like to work under such a strong female figure in the ministry. But the moment passed as I returned my attention to the situation at hand.

"That is a serious accusation Mr. Malfoy," it was Thistleton again, determined to cause problems, "I presume you have evidence strong enough to support it or it will be you who comes under suspicion of perjury," he finished with a steely glare and a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, sir," Draco replied, "witness Hermione Weasley has it in her possession," he continued, turning slightly to me in acknowledgement as he sat back down. A gentle squeeze of my arm from Harry and a fleeting half-smile from Draco was all the encouragement I needed as I moved from my seat back into the centre of the room under the heavy gaze of all the witches and wizards who made up the authority of the ministry.

"If you'll permit me?" I spoke into the silence that had wrapped itself around the room, directing the question at Minister Cartinson as it was easier to focus on her, a nod was all I needed before I spoke the necessary incantations to release the recorded conversation between Gullen and Seth. It manifested itself as a small white box, hovering just in front of me, with a small tap it gave up what was needed and the slightly magnified voices contained within rang out.

_"Do you really think you'll just be able to go back in there and change your testimony? Your career will definitely be ruined then and you'll be questioned which means most likely I'll be heading straight to Azkaban with you."_

_..._

_"I'm surprised anyone believes me though, Weasley is clearly not in his right state of mind, sometimes he just rambles bits and pieces of words, it's quite disturbing actually,"_

It only took a few minutes for the conversation to play itself out but it seemed so much longer, I refused to let my gaze stray anywhere but the small box in front of me, I didn't want to watch people's reactions till I could be sure of them. Till they had no choice but to be convinced.

When it had finished the silence seemed more oppressive than ever, only then did I dare to look up, my gaze focusing on Cartinson first and foremost, did I dare believe she actually looked a little impressed beneath the disapproval at what she had heard?

"I can admit this for testing of course," I spoke, starting a little nervously and gaining in steady confidence, " the charm will stay corporeal so that anyone who has doubts over whether the recording has been faked-"

I was cut off by a sudden scrambling sound and turned in surprise, almost expecting to see Gullen had finally given into the urge to try and escape but instead it was Seth who was moving jerkily from his seat and coming towards me with a snarl and his wand out in front of him, pointed directly at me.

**These updates are getting far too sporadic for my liking, I really do apologise, all your reviews are so lovely and I really do appreciate them, they make my day all shiny and fluffy :) I'm determined to finish what I started for you, I'm not sure how many more chapters it'll be, I would say around 10-15 but knowing how I like to ramble I fear it could go on longer, I've got it all plotted out, I just need to figure out how to break it up into chapter-size chunks. But yeah, a huge thank you to everyone who reviews and favourites and puts this on story alert, it keeps me going, summer time pimms and huggable Draco's for everyone! :) (oh and sorry about the cliffhanger, I'm awful I know) ~xx~**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Dimly I realised the whole court seemed to explode with noise and movement but as I groped for my wand in my belt I could only think that I thought I had left ever having my safety threatened far behind me. Between this and having to fight my way towards saving Scorpius not that long ago, I was being proven horribly wrong.

I had my wand in a sturdy grip at last, ready to face Seth with every bit of defensive magic I knew and he was close enough now that I could see the hatred on his face and hear the angry expletives he muttered.

His wand hand moved with harsh surety as he finally sent a spell shooting towards me, the vicious, vengeful magic making the hair rise on the back of my neck and I threw up the strongest shielding spell I could muster. The spell which had become so near so quickly fizzled out as it hit not my shield spell but one of the two or three that had sprung up in front of it.

Anger turned to horror in Seth's eyes as he saw his failure and almost immediately was wrapped in a complete binding spell only to be set upon by court officials a moment later.

The court room came back into focus then and I turned away from my attacker to see Harry, Ron, Ginny and Draco all crowded near me with their wands held out, the rest of the Weasley family not far behind. I didn't have long to savour the rush of warmth though before George, who had been sitting silently in the chair in the middle of the room as before, suddenly started to thrash and scream.

Everyone turned to the remaining Weasley twin in broken horror and Molly and Arthur whose focus had been on the scene in front of them just a second ago were now trying desperately to get near to their son, to try and comfort him, calm him. His guards were already there though, holding him down forcefully and everything seemed like chaos.

I looked on at the mess that the trial had become and tried not to be overtaken by shock and despair, my gaze turning to the highest authority in the room, Cartinson, hoping for someone to take control. The rational part of my mind still aware that _I _didn't have the authority necessary, not here where the ministry ruled. It made me feel almost powerless.

Thankfully Cartinson was already standing and beginning to address the room.

"Somebody collect the medi-wizards to calm Mr. Weasley down immediately. Guards, take Mr. Seth Parks and Healer Gullen to separate holding rooms for the Aurors to question them," she turned to me then, "Mrs Weasley, I trust you are alright? I can ask for another medi-wizard if you require assistance."

"I'm fine, thank you Minister, I was unharmed," I replied, unable to help the warm respect in my gaze as I saw order begin to return, George's screams growing quieter, Seth and Gullen being taken away and all of it orchestrated by this woman as the rest of the Wizengamot sat half stunned. I was inordinately pleased when her eyes met mine with almost equal respect.

"Well then, I do believe you have won your case," I watched with increasing happiness as she left her stand towards the one of the exits at the back of the Wizengamots benches, leaving Thistleton and some others looking after her with comical expressions of shock.

I turned and grinned to my friends and family, receiving smiles in return before we all sobered slightly, looking back to where Molly stood crying in Arthur's arms, George having already been taken away, without them being allowed to even give him a parting hug in his distress.

Ginny was already walking towards them, Ron and Harry only hesitating slightly to wait for me and Draco looking as though he felt a little out of place, unsure of his place in the family gathering.

I went over to them with relief and the lightness of winning the case dissipating slowly to make room for the heaviness of the knowledge that though this one obstacle had been overcome, George was still ill, he still needed help. I smiled reassuringly at the three waiting for me and slipped my hand into Ron's, and we made our way towards the family, ignoring the noise of the Wizengamot members and other spectators of the court case leaving the room.

I turned my head to the side, realising that Draco was hanging back and gave him a small smile, gesturing with a small movement of my hand that he was welcome too, he had played his part as much as the rest of us.

It was in a state of mutual grief that we left the court room, our consolation being each others presence and the thought that this was by far the better situation to find ourselves in. At least George would be cared for and we should get better visitation rights as I pointed out to Molly and Arthur as Bill, Fleur and Percy led the way out.

Molly gave me a watery smile and nodded in agreement, she was still getting over the shock of George's episode.

Even I felt horribly hollowed out by the events of the day and I wanted so much to give in to lethargy for once and crawl into bed to attempt to forget the world's existence. It was hardly made better by the presence of both Ron and Draco on either side of me as we walked through the ministry. Both of them were silent and my stomach churned.

With my drive for winning George's case gone now that I had accomplished my goal and nothing to replace it I could already feel the weight of my own problems sinking like lead poison in my mind. The exhaustion of the past few weeks as I worked on getting everything ready for the case was catching up to me.

Ron and Draco's presence, in fact the presence of everyone around me, the people I loved, my family, no longer made me feel comforted or supported. I felt caged and my head began to swim with the pressure of knowing at some point I would have to make a decision.

Someone was bound to find out, something would go wrong. No matter what I did, _someone _would get hurt besides me.

I took a few stuttering deep breaths, determined not to break down now in front of everyone, today was about George, about the people who loved him and were grieving over how ill he had become. My issues held no place here when Molly and Arthur were only a few strides ahead of me, shoulders hunched over slightly as if to try to ward off any more blows to their already wearied figures.

For once my stubbornness was put to good use.

Draco left the group at the entrance hall in order to make use of one of the apparition points to return to Malfoy Manor where I knew his son and wife surely were. Another spike of guilt spiked through my veins as I wondered how Astoria might react if she knew her husband thought of someone else.

Yet, still I managed to feel selfishly upset when he left, even as part of me was relieved. My skin itched with the restlessness of indecision, unable to discern exactly what it was that I felt. It was the same with Ron, I wanted to pull him closer and push him away all at the same time.

Curling up my hand, I dug my nails into the soft skin of my palm, annoyed with myself for acting like a child.

The ride back to the Burrow was as muted as the walk through the ministry, everyone mostly lost to their own thoughts. I sat in my seat opposite Harry and Ginny and couldn't help but feel a little jealous at the apparent ease of their relationship as Ginny rested her head on his shoulder and they threaded their hands together.

When we did finally arrive at the Weasley homestead everyone appeared to be set to stay for a few hours to continue to take comfort in each others presence. I waited long enough for Bill to fetch the children from Andromeda's and return bringing them all, including Andromeda and Teddy.

I took a moment to pick Rose up and bury my face in her hair that still held a faint hint of baby smell underneath the smell of shampoo. Using one arm to cradle her against my hip I tapped her nose with my other hand and smiled as she giggled quietly. Ron came over then, stroking our daughters hair softly and kissing her forehead before he looked at me.

"I think I might head home with Rose, sorry, I'm just a bit exhausted," I said in a hush.

"Alright, sure, do whatever you need to, are you sure you want to take Rose then? I can look after her here while you get some sleep?"

"No, it's fine, I've got her, you stay here and make sure your mum's alright," I smiled gently, hoping he would simply take me at my word without me having to explain that I needed to spend a little time with the only stable part of my life for a while.

Thankfully he did accept it and with a small kiss let me say my goodbyes to the rest of the family, I smiled at everyone in turn, hugging and shaking hands, making my apologies and letting Rose down to say goodbye to her cousins.

I hid my relief when it was finally time for me to apparate home, bringing Rose with in side-along, silently relishing the peace of my relative solitude and the knowledge that during the next few hours at least I would only have to worry about one other person besides myself, my daughter. For the next few hours I could pretend it was just us two as I made us something quick to eat, turned on the small charmed playback box that had been developed in the last few years to imitate a television and with a few complicated wand gestures managed to make it play a children's film.

When Ron did return home, it was to find us curled up around each other, Rose half in my lap and half on the sofa, with our plates forgotten on the floor, both fast asleep.

**This chapter quite possibly sucks and is probably full of mistakes and typo's, feel free to point them out to me if you spot them, it would help, I've only gone over this briefly because I'm too tired to do much else. Also I have to apologise because this chapter should probably be a bit happier what with the winning of the trial but I haven't been in a great mood lately and everything I write just turns out ridiculously angsty. But! enough of my moaning, because there's something more important *insert huge fanfare* I have over 10 000 hits on this story of mine :D AND 90 reviews! I mean shucks guys, you make my day that much brighter, you really do :) So this is my huge huuuuge thank you to all you wonderful people, if it weren't for you I wouldn't still be writing this pet monster :) ~xx~**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

With George's case over I knew I should really have returned to focusing on my work, getting back into my regular routine but I found I couldn't bring myself to. Instead I asked for a couple of weeks of vacation time, wanting to take some time out and figure out my life.

I toyed equally with the idea of telling Ron about my doubts and my feelings for Draco and the idea of contacting Draco himself, just to talk, maybe decide whether we wanted to try and stay friends. I knew Harry still talked to him sometimes, Ginny mentioned once or twice that he had been round to their house with Scorpius, watching me closely each time.

Ron spent a lot of time drifting between work and his parents house but he came home each night, he made sure he spared the time to sit down and eat with Rose and I. Conversation between us was stilted though, we talked about our day, about friends and family, people at the ministry but never anything deeper.

He didn't seem to take notice of the fact that Draco no longer spent any time at our house and I could almost congratulate myself on trying to move forward. I would have if it weren't for the fact that drifting about the house, looking after Rose, reading the occasional book, made me feel crushingly lonely.

I could feel myself sinking and tried to fight it, making plans, random lists of things I could do to give my life the comfort of a structure. The house soon became littered with the small lists scribbled hastily on scraps of parchment, some simple and mundane, what shopping we needed, odd jobs that needed doing around the house. Others were grander, plans for reaching out to friends I hadn't spoken to in a few years, idea's for a research paper on the roots of magic that I had thought wistfully about writing and publishing for years.

I even started to debate whether a change of career might give me better direction, that alone spawned dozens of lists, pros and cons of my current job, idea's for what career I might want to embark on if I did decide on a change of pace. I had become fairly financially stable in my own right, my job with the ministry was small and obscure but a lot of my work went towards the research being done in the Department of Mysteries and I was paid fairly well.

Ron's job was also stable, Quidditch being such a large part of the Wizarding community and we had enough savings in our joint account at Gringotts that I was sure a change of career wouldn't affect our quality of life. The idea was beginning to sound increasingly promising and I knew that at least in part I was looking forward to embarking on a new venture that was entirely separate from my emotional worries.

Just over a week and a half had passed since the trial when I decided to try and broach the subject with Ron after dinner had been finished and we sat comfortably in the living room. A wizarding radio station played music softly in the background and I was curled up on one end of the sofa with my legs tucked under me and a heavy tome on the fire culture that had sprung up around dragons when they first came into contact with wizards on my lap.

Ron was reading the Daily Prophet on the chair on the other side of the room.

"Ron?"

"Mm?" He murmured distractedly.

"I was thinking about quitting my job, maybe looking into doing something else, what do you think?"

"Oh."

"It's just I feel like I want to stretch my wings a bit more, see what I'm capable of and I can't really do that where I am at the moment so I thought maybe a change of pace was in order. We've got enough savings that it shouldn't do anything to jeopardise our financial stability, I just feel like I want to-"

"Wait, what? You're quitting you're job?" The paper dropped from Ron's fingers then and he looked at me, completely bewildered, "Where on earth did this come from?"

I bit back the barbarous comment that I was _explaining _where it had come from if he would only listen.

"It's just that I feel like I could be doing more with my life, there aren't exactly many opportunities for promotion or branching out where I am now, I can't even choose what I research, I just get the assignments handed to me. I'm starting to feel like I'm in a rut." I finished, the frustration seeping through my teeth even as my jaw clenched shut to hold it back.

"I don't understand," he started slowly, "I thought you liked your job, you've been perfectly happy working there for years now, why the sudden turnaround?"

"I was happy working there before, it's a perfectly good job, I just don't want to stay there forever and I was thinking I should try for something new whilst I'm still young," I tried to explain, knowing that I would go ahead with my plans anyway but wanting to have Ron's support. Major life decisions were supposed to be discussed with your spouse, it was the mature thing to do no matter how many headaches it might bring on.

"You're really willing to uproot our lives like that?" I opened my mouth to reply but he cut across me, "I know, I know, you don't think it will make a difference to our financial stability, but it would make a slight difference and what about the overall stability of this family? If you don't know what work you're going to be doing then how will you know when you have to go somewhere? I've still got my job and you can't always rely on Ginny, she has things to do as well, what are you going to do about Rose?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose tiredly, knowing that his concerns were valid but resenting the implication that I hadn't already considered the fact that I may not always be working at home anymore and therefore not be able to look after Rose.

"Where possible I will try and do everything from home, you know I wouldn't just keep leaving Rose with Ginny," I beseeched.

"I know, but-"

"I can't say that I have a definite plan yet, because I _don't_ but the first thing I want to at least try is to write this research paper and try and get it published, maybe try to start to make a name for myself,"

"So you would be at home at first but you still don't know what you would be doing after that, and why do you suddenly want to start 'making a name for yourself'? Most people already know your name, where is this _coming _from?"

I noticed he left unsaid how people did know my name but more importantly I realised that this really was coming out of the blue for him, It had been too long since I had had a conversation with my husband about my dreams, my aspirations, my _ambitions._ No, I had spoken of those to Draco and before that merely kept them to myself. I had to suppress a sigh, seeing a few things in a new light. It was true that to an extent Ron had stopped listening, had grown complacent but I had grown complacent too. I had stopped trying to _make _him listen, stopped sharing things with him.

Chillingly I had to wonder how well we really knew each other these days, whether the people we had grown into over the years of our marriage had become strangers.

"I've wanted to branch out on my own for a while now, I just haven't said anything before today because it was only a vague idea that I wasn't even entirely sure I wanted to pursue. Only now I am sure, I want to do this Ron, I want to do it for myself. I know that I'm capable of becoming a recognised scholar, I think that I have at least managed to prove that to myself _and _others through my work at the ministry. I just need to take that final step and start to doing some independent research, can you _try _and understand that I need this?" I was sitting closer to the edge of the sofa now as I were trying to reach across the distance between us as I looked at Ron imploringly.

He dragged his hand through his hair roughly before he met my eyes, he was leaning forwards now too, elbows resting on knees. There wasn't much space between us but in those few tense moments whilst I waited for Ron to support me or shoot me down it might as well have been miles upon miles worth. I wondered why neither of us would make the small movement it would take to carry us next to each other when it would have been so natural just a few years ago.

"If it's what you want to do then I can't stop you but 'Mione, I still want you to at least try and consider the idea of us having another child, it's as important to me as this is to you. You can't expect me to just agree to all your decisions and not even give mine any deliberation before you refuse."

So this was how it would be, for him to agree to support my career change without any opposition I would have to exchange a promise of someday, and from the look in his eye, someday soon having another child with him. I hesitated, my mouth open slightly as I tried to find the words to answer Ron with.

"I-I'll think about it, maybe after I've managed to securely establish my career as a scholar, maybe then," I conceded even as my heartbeat thrummed with vague panic but maybe it was worth it seeing the happiness on Ron's face as he finally bridged the gap between us to sit next to me, pulling me into a tight hold. He cupped my face and kissed me softly and I couldn't help but lean into it, searching for comfort but when he pulled back and looked at me with shining eyes I failed to find it.

Instead stress and worry flooded me, bringing with it the inevitable sense of having nowhere to turn, nowhere to go and a strange sense of loss.

"Everything's going to be brilliant," Ron smiled.

**I want to hit both of them, I really do. Anyway, no Draco this chapter, sad times but he'll be back in the next one don't worry. Thank you again for all the reviews, you guys really are awesome, I really didn't realise this would be so long when I started it, it just sort of snowballed when I wasn't looking but you guys have been so nice that I simply have to get to the end of it for you :) for the record as well, said ending isn't quite in sight yet ;)**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

I refused to let myself examine the feeling of loss, afraid of what answers such introspection would reveal. I returned my attention to my book as Ron smiled happily and began to flick through the Daily Prophet again until Rose came back into the living room from playing in her own room and demanded his attention.

The rest of the evening passed in the comfort of our usual routines, putting Rose to bed, reading a while longer ourselves and chatting about small day-to-day things, friends, work, when Ron was next going to see his family and whether I would come along. It wasn't long till we were climbing in between the sheets of our own bed, turning the lights off, kissing each other goodnight.

I was easily able to dissuade Ron from any thoughts of pursuing the kiss further with apparent signs of over-tiredness but whilst he was already snoring gently I was still wide awake, my thoughts like lead in my mind. I thrived on having control in my life but more and more lately any sense of control was quickly slipping through my fingers. I felt the desperate urge to make a drastic change in my life, even further to a career change, in order to reclaim a feeling of being able to decide my own future. Even if the decision I made was the wrong one.

I took the steps I needed to in the next few days to contact my superiors and hand in my notice; they were kind to me, made sure that I wasn't leaving because of any fault on their part. I explained my ambitions to them and they understood soon enough.

Despite doing most of my work and research at home, I still had a good relationship with my colleagues and they were warm-hearted enough to band together and give me a small leaving party at the office at the end of my last week there. I took home a card and some presents that day feeling buoyed up by their appreciation and love and basked in it for the rest of the day as I took care of Rose.

The determination to strike out and do something new, edged with an anxious need for control, still sizzled at the back of my mind though and came back in full force the next day. Ginny was busy with work but Harry had taken a day off to spend time at home with the kids so I set up a play-date for Rose for a few hours and locked myself away in my study.

With a wizarding radio humming quietly in the background I poured over the books I had collected over the years, books I had on loan for the purpose of my new venture and the results of the research I had done at my job with the Ministry. I knew that I wanted to focus my studies on the origins of magic and the forms that ancient magic had taken, particularly in relation to where it coincided with Muggle histories and myths. However I still needed to narrow my research field down, perhaps to something that could be considered in a new light, something that I could make a proper study out of to present to the academics of magic.

By the time a small spelled alarm on my desk let me know with its shrill tone that I needed to collect Rose from Harry's, my right hand ached slightly and my head felt heavy but I was filled too much with the sense of what I had accomplished and the next steps I had to take to really care. I was already looking forward to visiting the Ministry archives at some point during the week.

Rose was happy and excitable from spending the day with her cousins when I came through the fireplace to collect her. They had apparently been playing a game of tag and the exercise was evident in the flush of her cheeks as I picked her up, resting her against my hip and smiling back with the ease of irrepressible affection.

I held her for a moment, listening to her happy ramblings about her day before setting her back down to play with Albus and going to sit on the sofa with Harry, settling into intermittently catching-up with him and watching the children play. He told me how he missed running around after the kids when he was away with work even though looking after them all could be pretty stressful sometimes and asked me how I felt now that I'd quit my job.

I quickly became swept up in explaining my studies, betraying how exciting I found it while he sat with an expression that told me he couldn't exactly understand it but was thinking 'typical Hermione' all the same.

James ran up to us to ask a question, distracting me from my monologue on ancient magic and we drifted to other topics afterwards. He spoke about his own job for a while, then asked about Ron, how he was dealing with the aftermath of the trial. I didn't have much to say, feeling a pinch of regret when I realised I didn't really know, and just said that he was doing fine.

"He spends more time at the Burrow but other than that doesn't seem to be affected as badly as he might have been," I smiled reassuringly, though who I was trying to reassure I couldn't say.

"That's good to know, I haven't spoken to him as much as I would have liked to, been a bit busy lately," Harry grimaced at his blasé excuse even though it was clearly true, Harry cared too much for his friends to lie.

"Malfoy's been around a few times, you know, he really was a huge help, who knew such a prat could turn into a pretty decent guy?" Harry joked, thankfully oblivious to the sudden tensing of my body. "Scorpius is a great kid as well, the kids really like him, he's a bit quieter now but still as kind and polite as ever" he smiled.

I swallowed around the uncomfortable lump in my throat and hoped the next few words out of my mouth would sound relatively normal, "Yeah, he's a sweet little boy, I'm glad he's doing okay."

"Have you seen them much lately?" Harry asked.

"No, not much," I conceded, hoping I could get away without having to explain why, I couldn't think of any excuse that wouldn't come out sounding completely pathetic at the moment.

"Ah, fair enough," _thank Merlin for Harry's complete lack of suspicion over his friend's lives. _"Ginny and I are taking the kids to Hogsmeade with them this weekend, you and Rose should come, Ron too, it will be a good day out for us all after the stress of last month," he urged.

Feeling a sudden overwhelming sympathy for all animals that had ever and would ever get trapped in headlights, I agreed, unsure how to decline without betraying myself.

I didn't spend long there after that, Harry and I chatted amicably for a little longer until Rose ran back into the room with James and Albus in tow. Rose immediately climbed into my lap whilst James and Albus competed for Harry's attention, from the looks of them they were just beginning to tire so after a few minutes of faffing I picked Rose up to floo back home.

We said our goodbyes and stepped back into the fireplace, stepping out into our own living room just seconds later. I put on a Disney film for Rose and went through to the kitchen to start on our dinner.

Ron didn't get back until I was getting ready for bed that night and Rose was long since sound asleep in her own room. I called out that his dinner was under a warming charm in the kitchen and went back to the bathroom to finish brushing my teeth, hearing an answering call of thanks.

He wasn't long and got into bed just half an hour after I had with a long sigh of satisfaction at being able to rest finally. I had propped myself up against the headboard with pillows and had a book resting on my knees in front of me but closed it with my favourite bookmark in place out of courtesy to him.

"Bad day?" I asked.

"No, just very long, they're already preparing for the World Cup and everyone's going a bit crazy," Ron joked, I grimaced in sympathy. "How about you? How'd things go with your academic study thing?"

He was sinking further under the covers now, presumably seeking warmth, and I gathered he wasn't going to be awake long for an in-depth chat so I made it short.

"It went well, managed to get a few solid hours of research done before I went to pick up Rose from Harry's," a hum of acknowledgement from his side, his eyes slipping closed.

"Harry invited us to a trip to Hogsmeade this weekend with Ginny and the kids," I slightly higher pitched hum I took to be agreeable interest but still I hesitated before I spoke the next words, "Draco and Scorpius are going to be there as well."

"Sounds good," he mumbled and then he was curled up completely under the duvet, eyes glued shut with tiredness, slipping into a deep sleep.

"Yeah," I whispered to myself, putting my book down on my bedside cabinet, having lost interest in it. I sighed and stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to ignore the churning in my gut that was mostly worry and guilt. I refused to dwell on the small part of me that was excited at the prospect of seeing him again. Maybe if I refused to admit it was there it would go away.

With this unhappy thought I sunk under the covers next to Ron and waited for sleep to come.

**Yeah, its been a while, life happened. Sorry about that, this is kind of just a filler chapter as well, double fail but shit should start going down in the next chapter so I'll try and get that out soon now that I've got a feel for the story again. **

**Also thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews, favourites and story alerts, you people are awesome :) I checked today and I've been writing this beast since I was 17 which is just mind-blowingly batshit crazy, seriously I'm 21 this year, I can't believe this has been going so long, so to all those that have stuck around, I officially worship the ground you walk on and any newcomers, I worship you too ;) **

**As far as my plans go, this should be getting a bit more fast-paced in the next few chapters, hopefully anyway, and I can start pushing this towards its conclusion and stop messing with the little details and the never-ending angst D: **

**Peace out! :) ~xxx~  
**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The day arrived much sooner than I wanted it to, my nerves were so jangled the night before that I had tried every method of enticing sleep I had ever heard. I drank warm milk, I counted sheep, I simply counted and I lay so still I must have looked like a corpse.

I was still reciting the times tables by the time the dawn broke.

Entirely fed up of everything I could see from my vantage point in bed and particularly annoyed with the unhelpful blankness of the ceiling above me, I decided I might as well get out of bed and start my day.

I was careful not to disturb Ron as I shifted from under the covers as he was surely going to be thankful for a sleep-in on his day off and braced myself as the cold air immediately attacked my legs. I headed straight for the bathroom, determined that a long, scorching hot shower should wake me up and help to loosen my cramped, tense muscles.

I checked the clock when I came back out of the bathroom to get dressed, five to seven, way too early to wake Rose up for breakfast. I went to her room anyway once I was ready, to make sure she was okay; she was securely wrapped in her blankets, clinging to a small soft toy of a flying horse that was her favourite.

Sighing, I closed the door as quietly as I could and went to the kitchen to make myself a large cup of coffee in the hopes that it would keep me awake throughout the long day. I stared out the window into our garden as I waited for the kettle to boil, fingers absentmindedly drumming against the kitchen counter.

I had to wonder whether I would be able to act normally today, if I was a good enough actress to pretend nothing had passed between Draco and I. I had to wonder if even trying to pretend as I was would simply be another layer of deception.

In my daydreams I could imagine how thing might be if we were both free, if we had met under different circumstances, how easy it would be to fall completely in love with him, to live a life with him.

The whistle of the kettle pulled me sharply from my thoughts and my cheeks flushed with guilt even though there was no-one there to see. I raked fingers across my scalp, reminding myself of how useless 'what if's' always were. Not to mention unfair to everyone involved, even me.

All I could do was make the best of the situation I was in and try not to hurt people or sacrifice my own happiness in the process.

It seemed a sensible enough goal, I just wasn't entirely sure as yet if I would be able to accomplish it. After all, I wasn't without weakness when it came to this, especially if the last week of panicked obsession over seeing Draco again was any indicator.

I could try though.

When my coffee was ready I took it into my study with me, dragging a book towards me with one hand as I sat down and keeping my other hand wrapped around my cup for warmth. It wasn't difficult to let an hour pass by before I went to help Rose through her morning routine. I may have spent most of that time letting my mind stray to the day ahead of me but I eventually dragged my attention back to my book each time.

When the clock on the wall opposite me was just inching past eight I tidied away my books, took my cup back through to the kitchen and went to check on Rose. I was glad she had just about passed the stage of waking up at six in the morning everyday but she still never slept much past the early hours.

As I expected she was already up and out of bed by the time I reached her room, shuffling across the carpet towards me, rubbing a hand across her eyes. I smiled and picked her up.

"Morning sweetie, excited for today?"

"Yeah! I get to see Scorpy again!" She grinned and started to talk about all the things she would do today as I took her through to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Rose was already dressed and slurping at a bowl of cereal when Ron emerged, still in his pyjamas. He came over to me first, kissed my cheek, ruffled Rose's hair then set the kettle to boil.

It felt so comfortably domestic and I had to wonder briefly if being attracted to Draco was only an excuse to escape this settled atmosphere. Looking at Rose chatting happily to her father between spoonfuls of Coco Pops as I nibbled on toast I realised that it couldn't be, it made me happy after all.

The only problem was the growing distance I felt from Ron, the feeling that I was being pushed into Molly's shoes and that my career might be left to the wayside if I succumbed to his expectations.

By the time Harry, Ginny and the two boys had arrived, food prepared and children donned in hats and coats I was toying with the idea of pulling Draco aside at some point to speak with him privately. Just to clear the air, make sure whatever this thing was wouldn't interfere with our families spending time together.

At least that's what I told myself; maybe I just missed talking to him.

As much as I had worried over the moment, I still wasn't prepared when I finally saw him again. He was crouched down, talking to Scorpius with a smile on his face and the effect was immediate, choking my throat and dampening my palms.

Harry and Ginny called out in greeting as the kids ran over to drag Scorpius away for whatever game they could think of. Draco waved to us all, standing as his son was pulled away with a small, shy smile on his face. His eyes met mine for a moment, his expression faltering before he looked back to Harry to shake his hand.

I was uncomfortably conscious of every inch of my skin, every rumple in my clothes, every hair that had escaped from my tie to curl around my face. I held one of the picnic baskets in front of me like a guard and smiled when he nodded at Ron and I.

I don't think I had ever tried so hard to act 'normal' as I did over the next couple of hours, thankfully Harry and Ron didn't seem to notice anything odd about Draco and I never speaking to each other directly. I caught Ginny occasionally glancing between us but she seemed satisfied enough that we were still keeping a distance, verbally and physically.

We sat as far away as we could from each other.

In fact I barely dared to look at Draco, too afraid that he would be looking back, instead looking between Harry, Ginny and Ron and sometimes just staring awkwardly at the ground. I tried to lose myself in the conversation, tried to ignore how my entire body thrummed with the awareness of his proximity. I remembered feeling like this when Ron and I first started to date properly and was hit by such sadness and guilt it was hard to keep smiling.

It couldn't last forever though, even with the children happily running around about us and the warmth of my husband's leg next to mine, the idea of talking to Draco on his own for just a moment was becoming more and more of a temptation.

It was a risk and probably meant messing my life up even more than it was but the desire to know, to see what it would be like being in his presence now that we were both aware of our attraction to each other almost made me feel like the risk was worth it.

Eventually my chance came; Harry, Ginny and Ron were playing a small makeshift game of Quidditch without brooms, throwing around a small ball for the quaffle. Rose had immediately volunteered to be the snitch and giggled now as she tried to evade Harry.

Draco and I stood watching, close but not too close. The air between us was so thick with expectation, each waiting for the other to start talking. It seemed as if I swallowed every five seconds, working up the nerve to say something, anything.

"So, uh…"

"How-"

"Oh, sorry," I chuckled awkwardly at the cliché faux pas.

"No, you go first," he turned his head slightly, smiled at me. I wondered if he felt as silly as I did.

"I was just going to ask how things have been," my mouth twisted upwards wryly, a strand of hair had escaped from my tie and tickled my cheek annoyingly. He laughed briefly.

"I was going to ask the same thing, I've been fine, keeping busy, looking after Scorpius, you?"

"Yeah, good, I quit my job, made a start on writing up some research of my own I've been meaning to do," I couldn't help the smile of pride as thought about the progress I had made in my life since last speaking to him but I avoided catching his eye all the same. This was a something I had done for myself; I didn't to see whether he was pleased just as I didn't need Ron's approval.

"That's brilliant, I'm really glad you've started doing things for yourself," I did turn to him then, the memory of all our conversations in my kitchen about dreams and ambitions lingering between us.

"It's been good," I smiled, not ready to look away from the warmth and affection that flickered around the edges of his eyes.

"You look less resigned, more confident" he replied, entering dangerous territory and I couldn't help but love it, my pulse spiking in response.

"You look good too," I said, not quite sure how I let it slip past but unable to take it back now. He swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing and turned to watch the game again. I wondered why he had suddenly switched back to being nervous.

"Astoria and I have separated," he said quietly.

"Oh," he looked at me from the corner of his eye, unsure, almost apologetic.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he chuckled but without humour.

"No its fine," I replied though I wasn't sure if it was but what on earth was I supposed to say to something like that? We both watched our children, our friends, my husband, for a few minutes in silence.

"Are you okay about it?" I asked hesitantly, knowing he was waiting for me to be the first to talk this time.

"Yeah, I am, a bit worried about Scorpius but we've dealt with what happened to him so differently it was inevitable really. Besides, it was an arranged marriage, we were never quite happy, at best we were content but I couldn't deal with it anymore, she refuses to let go of the old pureblood principles. I suppose she never really saw much of the war so she doesn't understand the damage that kind of thinking can do."

I hummed in acknowledgement, it felt strange for him to be talking to me about this but it also oddly made me happy that he was here opening up to me again. Now I just had to figure out where that put us.

"Well I'm here if you ever want to talk it out," I smiled, chest strangely tight as he smiled back and wondering exactly what I had just begun.

**Alrighty, not out as early as I originally planned but not too late either, a happy middle and hey, stuff's happening ;) I finally have all my damn essays done, all thats left for the year is choosing my dissertation topic and some exams but for now I'm gonna enjoy my easter break methinks, hopefully that means more time to write for you lovelies. Anyway, enjoy and thank you so much for the reviews! This fic has become a bit of a monster and I'm so glad people are still enjoying it! Oh and I found out yesterday my gf hasn't seen the extended LOTR, it made me sad so I urge any and all of you, if you haven't seen it yet, WHY? Get on it man! :P**

Till next time! :) 


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